Soccer is a sport loved by millions of people all over the world. The US has a very talented women’s national soccer team, with four world cup titles. The US men’s team has not been as skilled as other teams they face in the World Cup, which is shown in their zero titles. Nonetheless, the men’s teams from many different countries including the US earn more money than the women’s teams. This has been a very controversial topic between many federations like the U.S. Soccer President and the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA).
Just recently, the US Soccer Federation recently announced their agreement to give equal pay to both men’s and women’s soccer players. Previously, women soccer players did not earn as much money as men, in spite of having four world cup titles, and the men’s team having zero. Now, when the men’s team gains money from being in the World Cup, they will divide the money between the two teams. For example, the men’s prize pool for the 2022 World Cup is $440 million, while the women’s is only $60 million. If the men’s team could pull out a miracle and win the world cup, they would need to split all the money earned, including their earnings from game wins, appearances, and branding. Cindy Parlow Cone, the new US Soccer president and former US soccer player, stated, “For me, the turning point was when we actually got everyone in the same room together. That was the first time that I really thought we could do this, because that in itself was historic.” Cone wanted to make history, and having strong ties with the US women’s team, she strived for equality and definitely reached her goal.
All in all, the new agreement in the US Soccer Federation has made history, and will definitely shape the future of soccer. Equal earnings between men and women has been discussed and this is a tremendous step forward made by the US soccer players and federation.
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