'Historic' equal pay deal for US men and women footballers

WASHINGTON: US men's and women's national soccer teams will receive equal pay under new contracts that feature an unprecedented split of World Cup prize money, the US Soccer Federation announced on Wednesday (May 18).

"This is a truly historic moment," US Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone said. "These agreements have changed the game forever here in the United States and have the potential to change the game around the world."

The landmark collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) reached between the federation and its senior national teams will see US Soccer distribute millions of dollars more to its top players through increased match pay and sharing of revenues from ticket sales as well as sponsorship and broadcast deals.

But the revolutionary feature is the stipulation that players from both teams pool and share the otherwise unequal prize money paid by global governing body FIFA for participation in their respective World Cups.

Equalizing World Cup pay had been a major stumbling block given the huge discrepancy in FIFA's payouts for the men's and women's events.

FIFA awarded France US$38 million for winning the 2018 men's World Cup but only US$4 million to the United States for their 2019 Women's World Cup triumph. The US men meanwhile received US$9 million in prize money at the last World Cup they played in, in 2014, just for reaching the last 16.

In the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the last-placed men's team received double the prize money of the 2019 women's champions.

FIFA has announced that the total bonus pool for this year's men's World Cup in Qatar will be US$400 million, while the bonuses for the women's tournament in Australia in 2023 will be US$60 million.

In reconciling that discrepancy with the new agreements, US