Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked a resolution urging FIFA to pay women the same as men at its World Cups. Tennessee Republican Lamar Alexander said theSenate had more pressing business than “offering opinions and resolutions about a private international entity and how they should award prizes.” Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy (Vermont), who sponsored the resolution, disagreed. “We could take 30 or 50 or 82 seconds out of the 100 hours or so we’ll spend during the months of sitting heredoing nothing,” he said, “and pass a resolution that calls for the equal treatment of male and female athletes. If we cannot even pass a non-binding resolution, how can we ever achieve real pay equityfor women?”
This is another opportunity for US leadership, USSF could have stepped up and supported it. I dont think anyone says their should be dollar for dollar pay that is equal but a formula that ties matches played, TV/Attendance/ Sponsorships to the pay out the women get. If the men get $600m to play in the world cup and the cup pays out $3bn then the same kind of model should be in place. The women’s world cup pay out at $15m is a joke. When you get 30m+ in the US watching a final and another 60-80m in the world at least that should be a play out of 10-1 men to women not 35-1.