Breakthrough for women’s soccer

illustration by eliot schlaack

U.S. Soccer and the United States Women's National Team have finally reached an agreement on equal pay. 

The fight initially started in March 2019.  At that time, the U.S. Women's team filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against U.S. Soccer. 

“Women already have to face other problems, such as the time at Michigan State, when a trainer got too touchy with the student athletes,” soccer player Bailey Kulich, 12 said. In May 2020, the U.S. Women’s team claimed that they were paid less than the men, and the lawsuit was initially rejected by federal Judge Gary Klausner. 

“I can list almost all the women on the team, and probably two on the Men’s team,” Bailey said, laughing. Eventually, the players filed an appeal on the May 2020 ruling because it was “legally wrong,” but were once again denied. 

Two years later, they were not only able to get a 22 million dollar agreement, but also to enact the reforms the judge rejected in 2020. 

“I think it is a step in the right direction. Definitely a small step, but it is a step,” Bailey said. In order for the agreement to go through, the U.S. Men’s team will have to agree to share salaries, and FIFA (Federation International Football Association) will have to pay millions of dollars. 

“We should be a team with the Men’s team, not working against each other. That’s how a team works,” Bailey added. 

“What we set out to do,” national player Alex Morgan said in an interview with the New York Times, “was to have acknowledgment of discrimination from U.S. Soccer, and we received that through back pay in the settlement. We set out to have fair and equal treatment in working conditions, and we got that through the settlement. And we set out to have equal pay moving forward, for us and the Men’s team through U.S. Soccer, and we achieved that.”