Tag Archives: pay

America’s Stance on Equal Pay for Athletes

Posted on by
Reply

Source: Statista

The U.S. women’s soccer national team successfully defended its title at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France, but the team that clinched its fourth World Cup title on Sunday is still in the middle of another battle: that for equal pay.

In March, 28 members of the 2015 World Cup squad sued the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) over gender discrimination, arguing that they are unfairly treated both in terms of pay and employment conditions compared to the (significantly less successful) men’s soccer team. According to the suit, if both teams were to play 20 friendly matches over the course of a year and win them all, the women would receive $99,000, while the men would cash in $263,320. Those numbers are even more astonishing when considering that the women’s team generated more revenue for the USSF compared to the men’s team over the past three years, according to figures obtained by the Wall Street Journal.

While fans of women’s soccer are (unsurprisingly) in favor of equal pay for female players, they even chanted “equal pay!” following the U.S. victory on Sunday, where does the general public stand on the issue? According to a survey carried out by YouGov in cooperation with Statista, the majority of U.S. adults think that female athletes should be paid equally, with 30 percent of all respondents demanding equal pay for women at comparable events (e.g. the FIFA World Cup or Wimbledon), while another 28 percent think female athletes should be paid equally relative to the amount of revenue an event creates.

The Gender Disparity In World Cup Prize Money

Posted on by
Reply

Source: Statista

Women’s soccer has surged in popularity in recent years and the global viewing audience for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup is expected to reach one billion. The growing profile of women’s soccer has resulted in enormous controversy due to a massive disparity in pay and prize money compared with male soccer. Even though FIFA announced it was doubling total prize money at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup from $15 million to $30 million, it is nothing compared to the total pot 32 teams competed for at the men’s World Cup last year in Russia. Total prize money on offer at the 2018 FIFA World Cup was $400 million which means the gender gap at the women’s tournament this year is an incredible $370 million.

When France beat Croatia in last year’s men’s final, they took home $38 million in prize money which is more than the 24 women’s teams are currently competing for. The winning team at the women’s World Cup will only pocket $4 million. The huge gulf in prize money has unsurprisingly resulted in players questioning the situation. World Cup winning former U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo has been especially vocal and she recently told the BBC that “male chauvinism in entrenched in FIFA and that these disparities are a reflection of that”.

Solo is leading a lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation over equal pay but she is not the only woman taking action. The Australian player’s union called on FIFA to reward male and female players equally while the Nigerian team staged a sit-in protest at a hotel after winning the 2016 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations over outstanding payments. Norway’s Ada Hegerberg won the Ballon d’Or and she famously quit international soccer in 2017 due to the way her country’s football federation treats female players. Even though it subsequently agreed to pay male and female players equally to represent Norway, Hegerberg declared that there’s “still a long way to go” and she refused to make herself available for the current World Cup in France.