The US Soccer Federation has just become a world power in another regard.
The USSF will pay the men's and women's national teams equally at upcoming FIFA World Cups under terms of a historic pair of labor agreements the federation announced Wednesday it has reached with the teams' respective players unions. The men's and women's teams will pool bonus money they earn from FIFA at World Cups in 2022 and 2023 and 2026 and 2027 and divide 90% of it, with USSF taking the other 10%.
The World Cup payments long were sticking points in the USWNT's long-running labor dispute, aimed at eliminating the pay disparity between the men's and women's teams. The new CBA might be one of the crucial last steps in settling a gender-discrimination lawsuit players filed against the federation.
The deals also equalize base pay and bonus structures for appearances in training camps and games, be they in regional competitions Concacaf stages or in exhibitions U.S. Soccer organizes.
The USSF is the first governing body in the soccer world to pay its men's and women's senior national teams equally. Chances are others will follow suit in the coming years.
