Former USWNT goalkeeper Hope Solo took to social media on Wednesday, addressing the recent equal pay settlement between the U.S. Soccer Federation and the USWNT. The settlement, worth $24 million, has brought an end to a six-year fight.
In her post, Solo said that it “is not a ‘huge win.’”
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Hope Solo (@hopesolo)
A post shared by Hope Solo (@hopesolo)
“It’s heartbreaking and infuriating,” she wrote, pointing out that the settlement is contingent on the ratification of a new CBA.
“A ‘promise’ of backpay for a select group of players isn’t equal pay and it’s not what this fight it about,” Solo continued. “Read the fine print… it doesn’t exist yet and is not guaranteed. If the players had ever been successful in negotiating an equal CBA, there would’ve been no reason to sue the Federation in the first place.”
One of the five players to originally file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over inequality and pay in 2016, Solo called it the “boldest action any team had ever taken.”
“It wasn’t an easy ask of anyone, and at the time, the decision went against the wishes of other players on the team now being called the ‘leaders’ of this fight,” she said. “Throughout the entire process, Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan were the two most agreeable with the Federation and to this day, continue to to accept terms that are nowhere near what we set out to do.
“They both know this is not a win. They know it’s an easy out of a fight they were never really in.”
In addition to the complaint, Solo filed an equal pay lawsuit of her own against U.S. Soccer, which is still ongoing. In her post, Solo says that she remains “committed to fighting for all players” through the suit.
She went on to say that those on the 2015 World Cup team that originally set the equal pay fight in motion “will not benefit from the selfishness and inequality of this settlement.”