Hope Solo to object to U.S. Soccer equal pay deal
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has repeatedly denied that the U.S. women’s team would receive special treatment with a deal he negotiated with the players’ union.
Solo was one of 20 members of the U.S. team who took part in an appeal hearing last week to overturn FIFA’s ruling that the players deserve 15 percent more than their national counterparts to be paid by U.S. Soccer.
Blatter said on Monday that he will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which oversees sporting events and other issues.
“I want the U.S. court to consider the issue of a fair and equal salary for all U.S. women soccer players,” Blatter said, in a statement obtained by CNN.
“FIFA did the players a great service when it negotiated a new collective bargaining agreement in March. Since then, the players have been fighting for what was agreed on.
“But now it is too late to do so once the court has heard an appeal. I will seek the case to CAS as soon as possible.”
Solo said she was proud of the team, and that it will continue to fight for equal rights.”
“As a soccer player, I understand the hard work and sacrifice it takes to obtain this much playing time,” she said. “To be able to earn more from my sport is incredible.”
Solo’s team mates, who are also still participating in the appeal, will be playing for an average of $6,300 a month. Solo will earn $17,600 a month.
The U.S. women will also receive a percentage of the U.S. men’s and women’s national teams’ revenues.
Solo is the second American player to appeal a salary. New York Cosmos striker Nicole Barnhart took her battle to the FIFA appeals chamber in November when she appealed a salary cut to the FIFA Council after failing to make a case in front of the Executive Committee. Barnhart had earned $1,400 a month in 2002.
Solo, a former college soccer