The union for the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team has finally weighed in on the U.S. Women’s National Team’s equal pay dispute with the U.S. Soccer Federation, saying the women should be payed “significantly more.” The National Soccer Team Players Association accused the federation of attempting to “sell a false narrative” that’s being used “as a weapon against current and former members of the United States Women’s National Team.” The union claimed the women’s 2017-2021 deal was financially worse than the men’s 2011-2018 deal, and called upon the federation to “pay the women significantly more” than their recently-expired deal. “In our estimation, the women were due at least triple what our expired deal was worth in player compensation,” the union said. “We believe the Federation should have agreed to a deal directly tied to a fair share of the revenue players generate.”
The union also said the federation was exploiting both male and female players, claiming that the athletes “have always received less than fair compensation” when playing for U.S. teams. “Soccer is perhaps the most corrupt sport in the World. We do not want a US Soccer Federation that behaves like FIFA,” the statement read.