U.S. Soccer to pay men and women´s teams equally

United States Soccer has announced that collective bargaining agreements have been put in place to ensure the men’s and women’s national teams will receive equal pay.

This means that World Cup prize money received by FIFA will be combined and split evenly between the two teams.

The men’s team will compete in the World Cup in Qatar later this year, having been drawn in the same group as England, Iran and the winner of the final European playoff.

The women’s team won the 2019 World Cup in France and will be among the favourites for the 2023 event in Australia and New Zealand.

An announcement by U.S. Soccer on Wednesday stated: “The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), the United States Women’s National Team Players Association (USWNTPA) and the United States National Soccer Team Players Association (USNSTPA) have agreed to terms of historic, first-of-their-kind collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) that achieve equal pay and set the global standard moving forward in international soccer.

“The two CBAs, which run through 2028, achieve equal pay through identical economic terms. These economic terms include identical compensation for all competitions, including the FIFA World Cup, and the introduction of the same commercial revenue sharing mechanism for both teams.

“The agreements will ensure that U.S. Soccer’s Senior National Team players remain among the highest paid in the world.

In a historic accomplishment, U.S. Soccer, @USMNT and @USWNT have come together to agree to new collective bargaining agreements that will run through 2028 and achieve true equal pay – including equalization of World Cup prize money.

— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) May 18, 2022

“Under these agreements, U.S. Soccer becomes the first Federation in the world to equalise FIFA World Cup prize money awarded to the U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) and the U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT) for participation in their respective World Cups.

“Equally as important, the new CBAs improve non-economic terms, including player health and safety, data privacy and the need to balance responsibilities to both club and country.”

The total purse for the 2019 women’s World Cup was $30million, with the United States receiving $4m as winners.

France took home $38m for winning the men’s World Cup in 2018 in Russia from an overall purse of $400m.

The President of U.S. Soccer, Cindy Parlow Cone, called it a “historic moment” and said the agreement has “changed the game forever in the United States”

“I am grateful for the commitment and collaboration of both the men’s and women’s national teams and I am incredibly proud of the hard work that has led to this moment. Everyone who cares about our sport should share in this pride as we look forward to working together to grow soccer for generations to come,” Cone added.