The United States Soccer Federation has offered “identical contract proposals” to its men’s and women’s national teams as the “equal pay” push from the USWNT enters another month.
The federation’s press release says the proposals will make both teams “among the highest paid senior national team players in the world while providing a revenue sharing structure that would allow all parties to begin anew.”
The fed also calls upon the players associations for both teams to push FIFA to equalize prize money for the men’s and women’s World Cups, something that would’ve greatly benefited American soccer in recent years.
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If both the men’s and women’s player unions continue to negotiate separate contracts, U.S. Soccer said it will invite the unions to sit in on each other’s negotiations.
The calculations put the ball in the court of a USWNT and its representatives who’ve been fighting for equal pay for years, as the U.S. men have said they believe the women deserve it.
But will inviting them to negotiate together be a wise move, or backfire? Either way, this is very intriguing if not promising from the fed.
The full release is below
As part of ongoing negotiations with the United States Women’s National Team Players Association (USWNTPA) and the United States National Soccer Team Players Association (USNSTPA), the U.S. Soccer Federation today offered identical contract proposals to each Players Association, with the goal of aligning the men’s and women’s senior national teams under a single collective bargaining agreement (CBA) structure.
U.S. Soccer firmly believes that the best path forward for all involved, and for the future of the sport in the United States, is a single pay structure for both senior national teams. This proposal will ensure that USWNT and USMNT players remain among the highest paid senior national team players in the world, while providing a revenue sharing structure that would allow all parties to begin anew and share collectively in the opportunity that combined investment in the future of U.S. Soccer will deliver over the course of a new CBA.
Additionally, U.S. Soccer has once again called upon the players and both Players Associations to join the Federation in finding a way to equalize FIFA World Cup prize money between the USMNT and the USWNT. U.S. Soccer will not agree to any collective bargaining agreement that does not take the important step of equalizing FIFA World Cup prize money.
U.S. Soccer believes that the best way to achieve these important goals is by the women’s and men’s Players Associations coming together to negotiate one contract. However, if the Players Associations choose to continue to negotiate separately as they have to date, U.S. Soccer will invite the USWNTPA to sit in on the negotiations with the USNSTPA and vice versa, in the interest of full transparency.
U.S. Soccer remains eager, ready and willing to meet with both Players Associations and the players as soon as possible and as often as needed, either separately or together, to get a deal done and focus on the future of soccer.
