The U.S. Soccer Federation last week "submitted court filings asserting" that four USWNT players were "paid more than the highest-earning player" on the USMNT over a period of five and a half years, according to Rachel Bachman of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The USWNT yesterday "responded in a filing" that said that there is a "reason for that: The women played many more games than the men and won more, including prevailing in two World Cups." Comparisons are "difficult because the men's and women's teams play" under different CBAs. Four USWNT members -- F Carli Lloyd, F Alex Morgan, F Megan Rapinoe and D Becky Sauerbrunn -- "each earned a total" of $1.1-1.2M for their national team play between March 30, 2014-September 30, 2019. By comparison, the income of the USMNT player who "earned the most in the aggregate" during the '14-19 period was $993,967. The USWNT's filings "countered that each of the four women's players named in U.S. Soccer's filings would have earned at least" $2.5M more over that time if they had "achieved their team's same results under the U.S. men's team's compensation policy." A round of mediation talks between the USSF and USWNT "failed in August." If the case "isn't resolved out of court," it is "scheduled to go to trial May 5" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 10/8).
DEFINING THE CLASS: In N.Y., Sarah Valenzuela notes the USSF's motion claims the four top-earning players "make too much money when compared to the rest of the team and therefore can't adequately represent them" in the lawsuit. The USWNT, meanwhile, "wants all players called up to the national team to be part of the class." The players point out that the only legal requirement for those who can represent a class is "that there be a 'sufficient likelihood that (plaintiffs) will again be wronged in a similar way' in the future" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/8).
