Five members of the reigning Women's World Cup champion United States team said Thursday they have filed a complaint against the US Soccer Federation alleging wage discrimination, insisting they should be paid the same as their male counterparts. Barely four months before the American women are set to try and win a fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal at Rio de Janeiro, players are taking a major stand.
"I think that we've proven our worth over the years. Just coming off of a World Cup win, the pay disparity between the men and women is just too large. And we want to continue to fight," World Cup Most Valuable Player Carli Lloyd said in an interview on NBC's Today show. Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe, Rebecca Sauerbrunn, Hope Solo and Alex Morgan filed the complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which will investigate, issue findings and seek relief if warranted.
"Five players signed the complaint, but the decision to file was whole-heartedly supported by the entire team," Sauerbrunn tweeted. The women's team won last year's World Cup in Canada, defeating Japan 5-2 in the championship game at Vancouver, while the US men's team lost in the round of 16 at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
The US women earned just $2 million in prize money, which the federation distributed to the women and the organization, while the losing men's team picked up $9 million. "The numbers speak for themselves," said Solo, a national team goalkeeper for 15 years. "We are the best in the world, have three World Cup championships, four Olympic championships and the US men's national team get paid more to just show up than we get paid to win major championships."
Germany's World Cup champion men's team was paid $35 million in prize money. "We believe now the time is right because we believe it's a responsibility for women's sports, specifically women's soccer, to really do whatever it takes for equal pay and equal rights and to be treated with respect," Solo said in the interview with the Today show.
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