U.S. Soccer Federation Says Male Players Carry 'More Responsibility'; Backlash Follows -- Update

By Rachel Bachman

The U.S. Soccer Federation faced a public backlash, including from top sponsor Coca-Cola Co., after it asserted in a legal filing this week that a "higher level of skill" and "more responsibility" are required of members of the men's national team than the women's team.

The controversy highlights the hazards U.S. Soccer faces in defending against the pay-discrimination lawsuit brought by the popular World Cup champion women's squad.

U.S. Soccer made the arguments in opposing the U.S. women's motion for a partial summary judgment in the case, which is scheduled for trial on May 5, and in relation to the Equal Pay Act. The EPA prohibits paying lower wages on the basis of sex for "equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions."

"The point is that the job of MNT player (competing against senior men's national teams) requires a higher level of skill based on speed and strength than does the job of WNT player (competing against senior women's national teams)," U.S. Soccer's lawyers wrote.

The filing also argued that since the men's team competes more often in tournaments offering more prize money, and since men's games outside the Women's World Cup tend to have higher TV ratings, "the job of MNT player carries more responsibility within U.S. Soccer than the job of WNT player, from an EPA standpoint."

"We are extremely disappointed with the unacceptable and offensive comments made by US Soccer. We have asked to meet with them immediately to express our concerns," a Coca-Cola spokeswoman wrote to The Wall Street Journal. She said the company "is firm in its commitment to gender equality, fairness and women's empowerment in the United States and around the world and we expect the same from our partners."

Later Wednesday, two other sponsors registered their concerns.

A spokeswoman for Visa said, "The U.S. Soccer Federation's position, as it has been reported, is one which we do not share," and that the company believes "the Federation should do more to ensure a level playing field for women. Visa plans to meet with the Federation to discuss this matter."

A spokesman for Deloitte, which sponsors a summit associated with the four-team SheBelieves Cup tournament in which the U.S. women played over the past week, said, "While our support for the team is unwavering, we are deeply offended by the views expressed by the USSF."

U.S. Soccer didn't reply to a request for comment.

College basketball analyst Jay Bilas wrote on Twitter that "U.S. Soccer takes a regrettable and demeaning stance on the USWNT's claim for equal pay, one that will look foolish in the future. U.S. Soccer may win in court, but lose in history."

Julie Foudy, a 1991 and 1999 World Cup-winning U.S. player, called the federation's filing "tone deaf." Heather O'Reilly, a three-time Olympic gold medalist and 2015 World Cup winner for the U.S., said on Twitter that World Cup prize money, commercial revenues and TV ratings between the U.S. women's and men's teams will be debated. "But to read that @ussoccer thinks this of the @USWNT and female athletes in general is disgusting and disturbing to me," she wrote.

The American Outlaws, the largest supporters' group of U.S. Soccer teams, men and women, said in a statement Tuesday that U.S. Soccer's characterization of women's soccer as inferior was "objectionable," and said, "That is not how the sport should be run in this county, or any country."

Han Xiao, chairman of the Athletes' Advisory Council for the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, wrote in an email to The Wall Street Journal that male players' opportunities are due in part to the greater investment in, coverage of, and promotion of the men's game for decades longer than women. Xiao also pushed back on the notion that the men's jobs carry more responsibility.

"In fact, I could argue that female athletes are often more scrutinized for their behavior compared to their male counterparts and therefore carry greater responsibility as ambassadors for the women's game, especially the WNT given their international success," he wrote.

The filing contrasts with U.S. Soccer's main web page for the women's team, on which it calls the players the "BEST ATHLETES IN THE WORLD" and says that "For decades, the USWNT has been topping podiums, making waves and racking up hardware as they prove to the rest of the world what grit and greatness looks like."

Attendance at U.S. men's games has slumped in the wake of the team's failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, while the women have played before strong crowds, including a sellout Sunday against Spain at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J.

The U.S. women face Japan on Wednesday night at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, in the final match of the SheBelieves Cup, a tournament operated by U.S. Soccer. On Tuesday the federation said it was expecting "another capacity crowd."

Write to Rachel Bachman at rachel.bachman@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 11, 2020 21:28 ET (01:28 GMT)

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