The union representing the players on the U.S. men’s national team issued a strong statement in support of their counterparts on the U.S. women’s national team, accusing the U.S. Soccer Federation of engaging in a “false narrative” surrounding the women’s pursuit of equal pay.
Twenty-eight players from the U.S. women’s national team are engaged in a class-action lawsuit against the USSF alleging “institutionalized gender discrimination” toward the team. The lawsuit was filed under the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
The U.S. National Soccer Team Players Association (USNTSPA), the union representing players on the men’s team, has issued statements in the past, but this statement was more detailed and blunter in its criticism of the USSF. The statement asserted that the USSF’s monopolistic control over who can play for a national team has been used “as a weapon” against the players and that the discrimination against the women’s team has been longstanding.
“The Federation has been working very hard to sell a false narrative to the public and even to members of Congress,” the statement read. “They have been using this false narrative as a weapon against current and former members of the United States Women’s National Team.”
The statement added: “With our unions working together since 1999, the goal was always to secure for the women comparable gains in pay and working conditions. For more than 20 years, the Federation has resisted any concept of equal pay or basic economic fairness for the USWNT players. Historically, the Federation also refused to include in the women’s CBA the same provisions as the men’s with respect to air travel, hotels, etc. This is systematic gender discrimination that should have never happened.”
Asked for a response to the USNTSPA’s statement, the USSF declined to comment.
The USNTSPA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement expired back at the end of 2018, and the union has been operating under those terms as it attempts to hash out a new agreement. Yet the USNTSPA stated that the CBA signed by the women back in 2017 was worse than that signed by the men in 2011, when the impact of the Great Recession was still being felt.
Given the improved financial health of the USSF and of the overall economy, the USNTSPA feels those number should be drastically increased. The statement highlighted that when the USWNT players were conducting their most recent CBA negotiations, the Federation’s annual sponsorship, television, and licensing revenue had grown from $16 million in 2011 to over $49m. Annual national team revenues at that time ranged from $29m to $55m. The USSF had $168m of net assets. The annual combined revenue related to the men’s and women’s national teams had increased to between $78m and $104m, with over $168m in the bank.
“In our estimation, the women were due at least triple what our expired deal was worth in player compensation,” the USNTSPA said. “We believe the Federation should have agreed to a deal directly tied to a fair share of the revenue players generate. That is what should have happened, based on the entire history of labor negotiations involving the men and women players and the Federation.
“Now, the Federation is taking the frivolous position that the USMNT players’ compensation should also stay at those 2011-2018 numbers. This is not because there is any basis for that position. Instead, it’s a desperate attempt to cover-up the fact that what they did to the women in 2017 is indefensible.”
The statement concluded with a call to fans to withdraw support from the USSF’s sponsors until the USSF “does the right thing” and gives the women a new CBA that pays a “fair share” of gate receipts, as well as revenues from television and sponsorship.
“Write to your Congressional representatives and tell them it is time to reform the Federation,” the statement said. “Let the Federation know that you do not believe the false narrative they are circulating. Support the players, not the Federation.”
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