Mohamed Bughrara

For many passionate soccer fans, the shouts of “equal pay” were finally heard as a historic milestone has been reached with the U.S Soccer Federation. The United States Women’s National Soccer team’s pay is now equivalent to the national men’s team’s pay, as a collective bargaining agreement was signed through December 2028. 

“I’m proud of you for never giving up and I commend U.S. Soccer for agreeing to do the right thing,” President Joe Biden tweeted. “Let’s keep up the fight until we close the gender pay gap in every industry.”

The men’s CBA expired in December 2018. The women’s CBA expired at the end of March, but talks resumed after the federation and players agreed to settle a gender discrimination lawsuit filed by some of the USWNT players in 2019. 

The agreement was conditional on the federation equalizing pay and bonuses for both teams.

In February, the women’s team reached an agreement with the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) to pay $24 million in exchange for new collective bargaining agreements, putting an end to a six-year legal battle over equal pay.

Players are scheduled to split $22 million as part of the settlement. In addition, the USSF agreed to develop a $2 million fund to aid with player’s post-soccer careers. Charitable efforts throughout the league have targeted the growth of the sport for women – paving the way for a future generation of athletes that will not experience the same gender barriers that so many past generations went through.