Former United States captain Landon Donovan claims that the women’s national team of United States are right to deserve a pay rise in line with the men’s team.
There has always been a disparity in wages based on sex. This has existed in different sports. The likes of Tennis recently witnessed restructuring so as to eliminate disparity in this regard. Women from other forms of sports have also started making their claim for an equal pay. The women’s soccer team of the United States is the latest to combat this disparity by lodging a complaint at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
In 2015 alone, the women’s team has produced revenues of $ 20 million for the US Soccer Federation. US Soccer recently went to war with the women’s national team players union over a labour dispute. Responding to the complaint, US Soccer issued a statement saying that they are disappointed to learn about this development since they have been one of the pioneers of improving women’s game across the world. Donovan, who recently retired from all forms of football, says that he wants far pay more than equal pay to be the topic of debate. He also suggested that the pay should be based on the revenues generated by individual teams.
“We understand the Women’s National Team Players Association is filing a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against U.S. Soccer. While we have not seen this complaint and can’t comment on the specifics of it, we are disappointed about this action. We have been a world leader in women’s soccer and are proud of the commitment we have made to building the women’s game in the United States over the past 30 years,” said the statement from US Soccer. “Both USMNT and USWNT should be paid commensurate w/ the revenues they produce, not based upon what the other makes,” said Donovan.
