Any disparity in pay received by U.S. women’s and men’s soccer players is based on differences in the aggregate revenue their respective teams generate, not sex, the U.S. Soccer Federation says.
Players on the two teams are also compensated under “fundamentally different pay structures for performing different work,” the organization said May 6 in its answer to a class discrimination lawsuit filed by 28 women players. Women and men are paid under separate collective bargaining agreements that impose different responsibilities and obligations on the players, U.S. Soccer says.
Women earn guaranteed salaries and benefits under their agreement. Men are paid ...