The American players ran out of the tunnel en route to warm-up drills wearing their warm-up jerseys inside out. In doing so, players hid the U.S. Soccer Federation crest on the jerseys, but not the four bright stars. The players returned to the locker room for their final preparations and came back out onto the pitch wearing the top in the same manner during the national anthem.
“We just wanted to do something as a team,” Meagan Rapinoe said in her post-match interview. “[we did it] to show solidarity and not only with ourselves but with all of the little girls that those words were spoken to, and the little boys and all the women out there as well who have been told they are lesser than just because of who they are.”
The USWNT went to win the hard-fought game 3-1 and were crowned champions of the cup for the third time in five years. Forward Carli Lloyd had more to say about the team’s decision after the match.
“I think it just was a powerful message, without having to really send a message. I’m really proud of this group because this is not an easy thing. Like I said, we don’t want to be in this position, but we’re here and it’s just got to be better.”
Of course, this was not planned overnight. On the eve of Saturday, March 7, a day prior to the U.S. women’s soccer match versus Spain, USSF President Carlos Cordeiro released a letter explaining that the federation made attempts to offer the team equal pay to male counterparts. But these explanations and proposals have been debunked by the women players’ spokeswoman Molly Levinson.
“The USSF letter is riddled with falsehoods and issued on the eve of the SheBelieves game, which demonstrates that it is more important to USSF to diminish the women’s team than it is to support them on the field. USSF did not and has never offered equal pay to the women players.”
This has all happened after the USSF released a statement arguing that women’s players deserve less pay than the men’s players because their ability and skill were not up to par with those of the men’s players if they competed against each other. And of course, this pissed off supporters and sponsors.
Cordeiro issued a formal apology for U.S. Soccer’s legal strategy antics. But the apology seems rather bland given that it came after the Wall Street Journal and Buzzfeed reported that the federation was scolded by their sponsors, including Budweiser, Coca-Cola and Visa.
“We have asked to meet with them immediately to express our concerns. The Coca-Cola Co. 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,” Coca-Cola stated, first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.
Anyhow, the federation has not given in and refuses to meet the $66 million settlement for the USWNT gender-discrimination lawsuit. It is now likely that the dispute will end up in a courtroom on May 5.
