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U.S. Women’s Soccer Team Continues to Dominate; Fight with U.S. Soccer Federation Ongoing

 

The United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) gained yet another win in a soccer game against Spain in the SheBelieves Cup yesterday, shutting them down with a narrow 1-0 win. A win against the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF), however, is less certain.

There is no dispute that the USWNT continues its domination on the field. After a 2-0 win against England on Thursday, who placed fourth in the Women’s World Cup this past summer in an increasingly talented pool, the women’s team shut out Spain with a header goal from Julie Ertz in the 87th minute. The team is now unbeaten for 30 games, and new head coach Vlatko Andonovski has a perfect 9-0 record. Indeed, it has been 14 months since the U.S. women’s soccer team has seen a loss after losing to France in January 2019. The women have scored 28 goals and conceded 0.

Clearly, the USWNT is doing well and represented U.S. soccer well with a stunning display of dominance. The interests of the team off the field do not represent the interests of USSF as the team’s lawsuit for gender discrimination continues. The USWNT set $67 million two weeks ago in courts filings in California as its price for settlement of its suit, but Carlos Cordeiro, president of USSF, said the team was demanding millions more in interviews on Saturday and Sunday. The federation, on the other hand, asked the court to dismiss the suit.

The team has pointed to World Cup payouts as one of the biggest examples of the pay gap. The women received $4 million after winning its fourth World Cup title this summer whereas the French men’s team received $38 million for winning the title in 2018. USSF points to the fact that FIFA controls payout, not U.S. Soccer. In a public letter by Cordeiro released a day before the game against Spain, he makes this point and says the federation simply can’t afford to pay the difference.

In response, the players dismissed the letter in a statement. “People can’t build financial models that diminish women,” Molly Levinson, a spokeswoman for the players, said.

Sources: New York Times, 3/8/20, 2/21/20.

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