Megan Rapinoe enjoys whirlwind, focuses on soccer pay fight
NEW YORK (AP) » and pay discrimination.
At the post-parade celebration at City Hall, Cordeiro said, “We believe at U. S. Soccer that all female athletes deserve fair and equitable pay.” However, so far the two sides haven’t reached an agreement, with a May 5 trial date set in federal court in Los Angeles.
Rapinoe says there’s a “major discrepancy” in pay for accomplishing the same success on the field compared to the U. S. men’s team. The 34-yearold said she can’t understand why female athletes must fight their soccer federation so hard for pay and benefits.
“I guess other than just not believing that we deserve it or not willing to pay,” she said. “I think it’s really counterintuitive, you have two really amazing products in both the men’s and women’s teams that are both very successful by a lot of different metrics. It’s a huge growing business. Soccer in general is growing exponentially in the country, so why not be able to leverage your best assets instead of fighting them all the time?”
U. S. Soccer has maintained that compensation for each team is the result of separate collective bargaining agreements and the pay structures are different as a result. The federation has also said the men generate more revenue than the women.
However, that argument has been debated by the women’s legal representatives, given the women’s two consecutive World Cup titles and the revenue generated from both victory tours.
The U. S. capped its latest victory tour with a 1-1 tie against South Korea before a crowd of 33,027 at Soldier Field on Oct. 6. Rapinoe lofted a perfect pass on a corner kick to Carli Lloyd, whose header tied the match.
Rapinoe said it’s 50- 50 on a settlement before the trial date.
“I think it would probably be in everyone’s best interests not to drag this thing out or drag it through court, but that’s really up to them,” she said. “We deserve what is fair and right under the law.”