Megan Rapinoe, who has made a name for herself from being the “woke” Colin Kaepernick of the women’s soccer world, scored a huge victory on Tuesday when it was announced that the U.S. women’s national soccer team (USWNT) has reached a $24 million settlement with the U.S. Soccer Federation in a lawsuit over equal pay.
Current and former players involved in the case will receive a total of $22 million. And, U.S. Soccer will pay an additional $2 million into an account designed to benefit USWNT players in their post-career goals and other efforts related to women’s soccer. Each player will be able to apply for up to $50,000 from this fund.
"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…"@alexmorgan13, @mPinoe and the president of the US Soccer Federation live as the @USWNT wins their fight for equal pay. pic.twitter.com/uV2nNh7WAE
— Good Morning America (@GMA) February 22, 2022
Rapinoe Is ‘Incredibly Proud’
Rapinoe and her teammate Alex Morgan led the charge in filing a lawsuit against the federation over equal pay back in 2019.
She said, “It’s a good day. I mean, I’m just so proud to be honest. I’m proud of all the hard work that all of us did to get us here. Obviously the players on the team and the players this lawsuit represent.”
“Obviously, we have been in this for a long time, and coming from a long history of women who have fought to put this sport in a better place,” Rapinoe told CBS News this morning. “I mean, I think pride comes to mind, just incredibly proud of the women on this team and all the women who this lawsuit represents.”
“The thing I look forward to and am really proud of is that, you know, the justice comes in the next generation never having to go through what we went through,” she added. “It’s equal pay from here on out.”
“This is the moment US soccer changed for the better,” she continued.
The settlement includes backpay for previous World Cup prize money and commits that men and women players will be paid at an equal rate including World Cup bonuses moving forward.
The players had previously been seeking $66.7 million in back pay, but the settlement amounts to a significant victory for the players.
Related: Megan Rapinoe Calls American History ‘Gross’, Says White People Need To Defer Leadership
Morgan Sounds Off
Alex Morgan also celebrated the settlement, saying that it’s a crucial step for mending the relationship between the federation and female soccer players.
“I think an important piece of it was equalizing not only the money moving forward but the World Cup bonuses as well and working with U.S. Soccer and the Men’s Players Association to find a way to equalize that prize money going forward,” she said.
“This is a huge step and mending that relationship with U.S. Soccer is also a big piece of that and we feel very comfortable and happy and proud with the moment we got to right now because it is a huge win for us, for women’s sports, for women in general, and it is a moment we can all celebrate right now,” Morgan added.
Related: Megan Rapinoe Leads USWNT Players In Taking A Knee Before Getting Demolished In Olympic Opener
Rapinoe Takes Victory Lap
Now that this issue is settled, Rapinoe said that women’s soccer players can go back to focusing simply on the sport itself.
“The biggest piece of the legacy that us of this generation can take is that the players coming up next will have a much better ability to just play,” she said. “With that comes them probably being way better than we ever were. That’s kind of the goal.”
Rapinoe became a household name outside of the world of women’s soccer when she followed Kaepernick’s lead by taking a knee during the national anthem before her games.
While we are happy for women’s soccer players that they now have equal pay to their male counterparts, but we remember how disrespectful she’s been towards our country.