Equal pay for the United States women’s national team is finally official.
The USWNT Players Association and U.S. Soccer signed the Collective Bargaining Agreement at Audi Field on Tuesday, following the 2-1 victory over Nigeria. Past and present USWNT players made the trip to Washington D.C. to witness the historic moment.
“I wasn’t sure it was going to happen during my career,” USWNT captain Becky Sauerbrunn told reporters after the game.
“I’m really happy that this current squad can kind of bring it across the line, with the leadership from (USSF President Cindy Parlow Cone) and with the coordination of the men’s national team. A lot of groups had to work together, and so there was a sense of relief, because it was really complicated, making sure that all needs were met, as well as the federation being happy with the agreement as well.”
In a nod to the number of former USWNT players present, Megan Rapinoe said, “We wouldn’t be here without all the players that came before. It feels like a very full circle moment, and I’m so proud of all of us.”
The document guarantees both the women’s and men’s teams receive identical bonuses for performance-related issues, and will ensure the two teams pool their FIFA prize money from the 2022 and 2023 World Cups to be split into two 45% portions (one for the USWNT, one for the USMNT) and the final 10% going to U.S. Soccer.
But the journey to reaching this moment was not an easy one.
In 2019, the USWNT PA sued U.S. Soccer to kickstart the movement. While the lawsuit eventually settled for $24m in February, the trajectory saw Carlos Cordeiro step down as USSF president and expose the organization for a lack of equality towards the USWNT.
Now, players can rest assured that equal pay is no longer a longshot notion but a reality.
“This is a historic moment,” Cone told media at Audi Field. “This has never been done before…we wanted a celebration. We didn’t want to just sign in some room that no one saw or emailing it, (using) Docusign. We wanted to make an event of it and celebrate it, because I think everyone is proud, and they should be.”
