The US Soccer Federation has agreed with the US women’s national team (USWNT) to offer the team identical contracts to its men’s national team. The deal will address the gender pay dispute, causing severe conflict in the USA football world. Until presently, the US Soccer Federation had offered different pay packages to its men’s and women’s national teams, with the men’s team receiving handsomely higher pay than their women counterparts. The pay inequality forced all 28 US women’s national team members to file a discrimination lawsuit in March 2019. According to the agreement, which the United States forward Alex Morgan and co-skipper called a “monumental step forward,” the players will receive $24m from the US Soccer Federation. The US Soccer body has equally agreed to pay the men’s and women’s teams equal amounts in all competitions, including the World Cup. “I think we’re going to look back on this day and say this is the moment that US Soccer changed for the better. Something like this is never going to happen again and we can move forward in making soccer the best sport we possibly can in this country and setting up the next generation so much better than we ever had it.” Megan Rapinoe, who led the US women’s national team to win the world cup in 2019, added triumphantly. For sure, pay discrimination based on gender is morally wrong. Such injustice is inexcusable, especially in the USA, having in mind that the United States women’s national team had won the Women’s World Cup four times as well as Olympic gold five times. On the other hand, their men’s peers have never won any trophy. Yet, the men’s national team receive higher pay than the women’s team. Such gender-based discrimination is irreconcilable and unacceptable in the 21st century. The legal challenge started when five senior members of the USA’s World Cup-winning team, including Morgan and Rapinoe, sued the national federation for wage discrimination in 2016 for $66m (£52.8m) in damages. A court dismissed the case in May 2020; that dismissal led to an appeal, with all other team members joining the suit. “We are pleased to announce that, contingent on the negotiation of a new collective bargaining agreement, we will have resolved our long-standing dispute over equal pay and proudly stand together in a shared commitment to advancing equality in soccer.” The US Soccer and USWNT announced on Tuesday in a joint statement. The new equal pay is a milestone in the fight against gender pay discrimination and gender inequality in sports. It is indefensible and morally wrong to continue to enforce gender apartheid and all sorts of discrimination against women in sports. While many male professional footballers are paid massively much, with some earning as much as half a million dollars per week, their hard-working, talented female mates receive meagre income from the same football bodies. How can any right-thinking human take such inhuman treatment? Gender discrimination in sport must stop. Now that the US Soccer Federation has done the right thing and set the bar high, we call on all other sports bodies, including the FIFA, IOC and the rest, to borrow a leaf from the US Soccer Federation and stop gender inequality and discrimination in sport. The time is ripe. Just do it!! Photo: Pinterest