MWAMBA: Female footballers deserve equal pay for their exploits

You probably missed it because Kenyans were still coming to terms with the fact that the country had recorded its first case of Covid-19, the pandemic was ravaging Italy and Spain, and Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta had tested positive for the deadly virus.

On March 13, Carlos Cordeiro, president of United States Soccer Federation (USSF), which runs football in the US, resigned in a huff amid strong criticism of the manner the federation handled a gender discrimination lawsuit filed by US women’s football team. 

Under Cordeiro’s watch, USSF made an appalling admission in legal filings that the federation was of the opinion that its female athletes were inherently inferior to their male counterparts and, therefore, deserved less pay, kicking up a storm that cost the Harvard University-educated sports administrator his job.

On March 9 last year,  just three weeks to the start of the 2019 Fifa World Cup held in France, 28 members of US women’s football team sued their federation over “institutionalised gender discrimination reflected on our pay, medical treatment, travel plans, and overall workload.”

Led by Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe,who became joint top scorers in 2019 Fifa World Cup in France where their team won a record fourth world title, the players were determined to fight for their rights.

“Each of us is extremely proud to wear the United States jersey, and we also take seriously the responsibility that comes with that,” Morgan, co-captain of the team, told American media. “We believe that fighting for gender equality in sports is a part of that responsibility. As players, we deserved to be paid equally for our work, regardless of our gender.”

LACK OF SENSITIVITY

But in an appalling display of lack of sensitivity to principles of equality in a country that prides itself in guaranteeing civil rights, USSF argued that women have less “ability” than men based on “the level of certain physical attributes, such as speed and strength”.  USSF’s lawyer said playing for the men’s team “requires a higher level of skill” and it wasn’t “a sexist stereotype” but “indisputable science.”

In his resignation letter, Cordeiro apologised and said he had not reviewed the documents before they were filed. The team’s sponsors, among them Coca-Cola, Visa, Deloitte and Budweiser slammed the federation. The women’s team claims that players were paid a total of US$1.725 million (equivalent of Sh186 million) in bonuses after winning 2015 World Cup in Canada but in 2014, USSF forked out US$5.375 million (Sh540.4 million) in bonuses to the men’s team which reached round of 16 in 2014 Fifa World Cup in Brazil. But on May 1, the court rejected the players’ claims.

For the record, US women’s football team has won four out of eight editions of Fifa Women’s World Cup held so far. The team has won four gold medals in six editions of the Olympics in which women’s football has been played. The best performance by the men’s team is third-place finish in the inaugural 1930 Fifa World Cup in Uruguay.  “The Stars and Stripes” have flopped since then and did not qualify for 2018 global showpiece in Russia.

NO PRIZE MONEY FOR WOMEN

On March 11 before their match against Japan in an invitational tournament called SheBelieves Cup in USA, the players wore their warm-up shirts inside out during the national anthem in protest following Cordeiro’s comments, much the same way Kenya Sevens blanked out their sponsor’s logo in Paris leg of 2018 World Rugby Sevens Series on June 21, 2018 in protest over delayed payment.
Back home, female footballers suffer a similar fate. Last year, the team beat holders Kilimanjaro Queens 2-0 in the final of 2019 Cecafa Women’s Senior Challenge Cup to win the title in Dar es Salaam but got “an empty handshake” because there was no prize money.

In contrast,  the men’s team after winning the 2017 Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup at Machakos Stadium to take home Sh10 million in prize money, the team was awarded an extra Sh5 million. In the run-up to the 2019 Afcon, the team was facilitated to the tune of Sh260 million. The team finished third in Group C behind Algeria and Senegal but ahead of Tanzania to take home Sh62 million courtesy of Caf.

Since inception, the Kenya Women’s Premier League has neither had a sponsor nor prize money. There was no prize money for last season’s league winners Vihiga Queens.

Mwamba is a Senior Sports Sub-editor at Nation Media Group. [email protected]