by GLENN CROOKS

Last month, the U.S. Women’s National Team filed a wage discrimination claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in a quarrel with U.S. Soccer.

On Thursday, U.S. Soccer made its own claim that illustrates a disparate financial picture from that presented by the women’s side.

The Federation has provided statistics over an eight-year period which compared the percent of team event revenue to player compensation for both the U.S. men’s and women’s national teams.

The data concludes that the women are getting a larger percentage of what they generate then the men.

The precise numbers can be found in this article from ESPNW. U.S. Soccer also supplied financials indicating that among the 25 top-earning national team players over the last four years, 14 of them are women.

“Some of the financial information that’s been provided (from the USMNT and their attorneys) has been either inaccurate or misleading,” said Neil Buethe, the Director of Communications at U.S. Soccer. “We wanted to share this information to help provide clarity.”

But that clarity has led to even further scrutiny. EoS reached out to USWNT lead attorney Jeff Kessler in order to get his take on the USSF numbers.

“These statistics are incomparable,” Jeff Kessler said in response to the fresh federation figures. “Comparing men who play fewer games and won fewer games to women who played more games and won those games.

“They are comparing soccer balls to beach balls.”

“They (U.S. Soccer) should be ashamed for making this argument and trying to justify the discrimination,” said Kessler. “It’s a complete distorting when they should be stepping up to the table and do what the law requires.”

What the law necessitates remains unclear. U.S. Soccer has yet to be charged by the EEOC. However, EoS obtained a copy of the claim this morning signed by the five plaintiffs; Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn, Alex Morgan and Hope Solo. The items in the claim that has led to U.S. Soccer’s waning image in public are the World Cup bonus and incentive figures. U.S. Soccer does not dispute that there is a disparity but contends that providing equal incentives could be fiscally devastating for the federation since FIFA’s structure for payouts differs widely between the women and the men.

Under the current U.S. Soccer structure, the USMNT receives a pool of $4.5 million as a second round advancement bonus which works out to approximately $187,500 per player. In 2014, the USMNT shared from a $9 million pool ($375,00 per player) after losing in the Round of 16.

Each USWNT player earned a flat sum of $75,000 for winning the World Cup last summer.

“Does that sound like proper compensation?” said Kessler. “It’s nonsense.”

The dispute revolves around the existing Collective Bargaining Agreement. The USWNT contends that the current Memorandum of Understanding, which was signed by the previous Executive Director of the Players Association, John Langel, is not a binding contract. U.S. Soccer is asserting that the MOU is a clear extension of the previous CBA. The federation sued the USWNT Player’s Union in early February to provide protection from a possible strike by the players and that case is still pending.

Regardless, the fourth and fifth CBA negotiations have been scheduled for May.

“We’ll get a deal done that’s fair to the players that will involve a process of give and take,” explained U.S Soccer President, Sunil Gulati. “We’ve got a team that we’re very proud of. We’re committed to many of the issues they’ve raised, and we’ll figure out a way to get to those points with them.”

The federation has placed an emphasis on player development. The emergence of the Girls Development Academy and up to 14 additional full-time staff is an example of that.

For U.S. Soccer, the issue revolves around economics and not the sex of the players.

However, paragraph XVI from Attachment A of the EEOC claim indicates otherwise.

“There are no legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons for this gross disparity of wages, nor can it be explained away by any bona fide seniority, merit or incentive system or any other factor other than sex.”

Kessler added that the position of the team is simple – equal pay for equal work.

“If the USSF claims to be advocates for women’s soccer, they need to prove it with actions, not demeaning attacks upon the players’ union,” he said. “The men make 40-percent more – the numbers can’t come out any other way.”

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