The USWNT is asking for equal pay in an unprecedented battle against the U.S. Soccer Federation. Co-captain Carli Lloyd appeared on “60 Minutes” this weekend with her teammates to discuss the disparity between salaries for the men’s and women’s national teams.
“We feel we’re treated like second-class citizens,” Lloyd said at the beginning of the interview.
The women’s team has been asking to be treated equal to the men for years with no avail. Due to different salary structures, the women have to win game after game to earn as much as the men do for a less impressive record.
Now, they’ve filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to put more pressure on the U.S. Soccer Federation in an effort to “make it better than when we came into this sport.”
The current USWNT contract expires on New Year’s Eve. Fans and the team eagerly await the results of an EEOC investigation as talk of striking arises among the teammates.
“It would be a discussion we would have to have,” said co-captain Becky Sauerbrunn.