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After a three-year legal battle, USWNT and US Soccer Federation announced on Tuesday morning in a court filing that they’ve settled their class action equal pay lawsuit for $24 million. The USWNT players will reportedly receive a lump sum payment of $22 million, according to ESPN.
The soccer federation has also “committed to providing an equal rate of pay going forward for the women’s and men’s national teams ‘in all friendlies and tournaments, including the World Cup.’” Bonus money had been a point of contention for years and helped spur this lawsuit.
USWNT star midfielder Megan Rapinoe, USWNT star forward Alex Morgan, and US Soccer Federation president Cindy Parlow Cone were on Good Morning America Tuesday morning to discuss the historic settlement.
“It’s a really amazing day. I think we’re going to look back on this day and say this is the moment that, you know, U.S. Soccer changed for the better,” said Rapinoe.
“It’s a really amazing day. I think we're going to look back on this day and say this is the moment that, you know, U.S. Soccer changed for the better.” — @mPinoe on the #USWNT reaching a historic agreement in gender discrimination case. https://t.co/kWY5S6eOU4 pic.twitter.com/k6Wf2rx9qM
— Good Morning America (@GMA) February 22, 2022
The US Soccer Federation will also pay an additional $2 million into an account that will help USWNT players’ post-career and charitable efforts that will go towards women’s and girls’ soccer. The next step in the process is the USWNT players ratifying a new collective bargaining and when that happens the District Court will schedule one more approval for the settlement.