US soccer head vows to ‘equalize’ World Cup paymentsAFP, LOS ANGELESThe US Soccer Federation aims to “equalize” World Cup prize money for its men’s and women’s national teams as part of efforts to settle ongoing litigation with its women players, federation president Cindy Parlow Cone said on Friday. The question of World Cup prize money formed a prominent part of a lawsuit filed by the US women’s soccer team in 2019, which accused the body of “stubbornly refusing” to pay it’s men and women’s players equally. The 2019 lawsuit cited the discrepancy in World Cup prize money payments paid to the two teams in 2014 and 2015. The US men received US$5.375 million for reaching the round of 16 at the 2014 World Cup, while the women received US$1.725 million for winning the 2015 tournament. The federation has said that its hands are tied because the prize money is set by FIFA, which awarded US$38 million to France for winning the 2018 men’s World Cup in Russia, but only US$4 million to the American women for winning the 2019 Women’s World Cup.

Source: Taipei Times September 11, 2021 15:56 UTC