July 15 – Procter and Gamble brand Secret Deodorant is giving each member of the US World Cup winning squad $23,000 and its backing in their equal pay dispute with the US Soccer Federation.
The brand, which is a sponsor of the US governing body, will pay out a total of $529,000.
Announcing its donation, it took out a full page ad in the New York Times saying: “After all the toasts, cheers, parades and awards subside, the issue remains. Inequality is about more than pay and players, it’s about values.
“Let’s take this moment of celebration to propel women’s sports forward. We urge the US Soccer Federation to be a beacon of strength and end gender pay inequality once and for all, for all players.”
Secret Deodorant is one of a number of brands that have expressed support for the US women in their equality dispute with US Soccer. Pre-World Cup nutritional foods manufacturer Luna Bar, a partner of the United States Women’s National Team Players Association (USWNTPA), donated $718,750 to compensate for the pay gap between the USA’s male and female professional players.
US Soccer and the US women’s national team (USWNT) are due to enter mediation in a bid to resolve a pay equality lawsuit that claims that between March 2013 and December 2016 that a female US player would have earned 62% less than their male equivalent for playing in the same number of national team matches. Figures also show that between 2016 and 2018, according to Wall St Journal analysis of USSF annual reports, the women brought in $50.8 million compared to $49.9 million by the men.
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