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NEWS , Becky Sauerbrunn respond to “ill-timed” pay proposal from US Soccer The players criticized the proposal and its timing on the eve of a match on International Women’s Day

by Pardeep Cattry, Pro Soccer USA  Mar 10, 2020

The ' Megan Rapinoe (15) passes the ball as Spain's Patricia Guijarro (12) defends during the SheBelieves Cup at Red Bull Arena on March 08, 2020, in Harrison, N.J. Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

HARRISON, N.J. — The United States women’s national team players have again criticized the U.S. Soccer Federation and president Carlos Cordeiro, this time for a pay proposal they say was poorly timed and inaccurate as the team competed in the SheBelieves Cup on International Women’s Day.

“At the SheBelieves tournament? It’s just ill-timed,” defender and newly elected USWNT players association president Becky Sauerbrunn said after the team’s 1-0 win over Spain on Sunday. “Obviously, we’d like to concentrate on the soccer stuff when we’re at one of our major domestic tournaments.”

Forward Megan Rapinoe echoed Sauerbrunn’s sentiment, expressing a particular displeasure with Cordeiro, who she publicly backed during her speech at New York’s City Hall days after the team won last year’s World Cup in . “I guess if that’s how you want to celebrate International Women’s Day and show support for not only your players but for potentially future players and girls all over the place, that’s one way to do it,” Rapinoe said. “Once again, it’s disappointing to see that stance from the federation but personally from Carlos.”

In a letter Saturday, U.S. Soccer said it offered “identical compensation” to the men’s and women’s national teams for matches controlled by the federation. U.S. Soccer also said it reached out to the players on multiple occasions to discuss the offer to no avail. The federation said it will not offer compensation related to the World Cup, and that the proposal “remains on the table.”

After the letter was made public, USWNT spokesperson Molly Levinson said it was “riddled with falsehoods,” with Rapinoe agreeing. In the letter, U.S. Soccer said the $66 million that the players are seeking in damages cover backpay for the prize money between the last two men’s and women’s World Cup winners, though Rapinoe said that was not the case.

“It’s not just the World Cup backpay that’s in the total number,” Rapinoe said. “That was one of the falsehoods in there, for sure.”

Levinson also said that U.S. Soccer “never offered” equal pay, and that proposals have excluded friendlies and most of the players under contract, in addition to ignoring requests for equal workplace conditions.

“We’ve got great lawyers in our corners, we’ve got great spokespeople and they’ve had it planned and wanted their response to be strong and wanted the facts to be out there and to be truthful,” Sauerbrunn said. “They don’t get to shape the narrative. We’re gonna bounce right back.”

The team filed its lawsuit a year ago Sunday, on International Women’s Day. The players marked the occasion pre-match on social media with another collaboration with Time’s Up after forming a partnership with the organization in August.

On #IWD2020 we say #TIMESUPPAYUP with @USWNTPlayers!

The pay equity fight is about policies that support women at EVERY career stage.

It's about women of color & LGBTQ+ workers not losing millions to the pay gap.

It’s about economic security, opportunity, & respect. Full stop. pic..com/QgycRguRd6

— TIME'S UP (@TIMESUPNOW) March 8, 2020

The team additionally received public support ahead of Sunday’s match when Cordeiro appeared on the pitch in a pre-match ceremony honoring for reaching 100 caps. He was booed by members of the crowd, and then loud “equal pay” chants rang around the stadium before the quick ceremony ended. Both Rapinoe and Sauerbrunn say Cordeiro’s proposal makes the two parties feel further apart on the issue, but with a court date approaching in May, the team maintained its commitment in its efforts.

“Come what may, we’ll deal with it,” Sauerbrunn said. “Anything less than equal, we can’t settle for.” Comments 0 comments

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