The U.S. Soccer Federation yesterday filed its defense "against charges that it has violated antidiscrimination laws by not paying women who play on the national team as much as the men," according to Matthew Futterman of the WALL STREET JOURNAL.The USSF "reiterated its position" that U.S. Women's National Team members are "among the best compensated female players in the world, and any disparity with the men is a result of the differing nature of their compensation from club teams or an international World Cup bonus structure set" by FIFA. The U.S. men collected $9M for making the second stage of the '14 World Cup. The U.S. women collected $2M for winning the '15 World Cup. While acknowledging that differences in the compensation structure "allow the U.S. men to make more money than the women for participation in each game, the federation noted that women’s national team players generally play more each year for their country." The USSF also said that it supports the NWSL, which "involves U.S. Soccer paying the salaries of players" who are on the USWNT. Separately, the USSF "filed a lawsuit" in February against the association representing the USWNT in a dispute over the "future of its labor agreement with the players." The players who filed the complaint -- led by G Hope Solo, MF Carli Lloyd, MF Megan Rapinoe, D Becky Sauerbrunn and F Alex Morgan -- have said that they are "considering all their options if they don’t get a new agreement that includes equal pay, including a potential boycott of the Rio Olympics" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 6/1).
