England duo Steph Houghton and Mark Sampson back US Women
Wednesday 6 April 2016 17:47, UK
England captain Steph Houghton and manager Mark Sampson have backed the United States women's football World Cup winners who are taking on their federation in a landmark equal-pay legal challenge.
Both Houghton and Sampson say players from the star-studded US team, who are the reigning Olympic champions, have "every right" to challenge the United States Soccer Federation.
Carli Lloyd, who scored a hat-trick against Japan in last July's World Cup final, has teamed up with fellow co-captain Becky Sauerbrunn plus goalkeeper Hope Solo, midfielder Megan Rapinoe and striker Alex Morgan in filing a wage discrimination federal complaint against USSF with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
They claim their basic earnings and bonuses should not be significantly short of what the men's team receive.
The quintet claimed an eight-figure total revenue was brought in by the federation as a direct result of their World Cup triumph, transforming its balance sheet, and pointed to a perceived injustice in how the men's and women's teams are rewarded for success on the big stage.
Jurgen Klinsmann's men's team collected £6.4m for reaching the World Cup last 16 in 2014, compared to the £1.4m shared between the women's side that coach Jill Ellis led to glory at Canada 2015.
England's two leaders both accept the Lionesses have not achieved the levels of success that their US counterparts have managed, nor produced near the same level of income, so are not yet in such a bargaining position, although they hope to see that change.
"The USA soccer team have led women's football for many years," said Houghton, who skippered England to third place at the World Cup.
"It always helps when you've become successful, and they've won gold at the Olympics and a World Cup so they've every right to be saying what they're saying. They feel very strongly about it.
"From our point of view, we can only really speak in those sort of terms when we are successful but we're not really winning trophies so far.
"Good on them for doing it - they've got every evidence to be putting that case against US Soccer."
The five US players, who say they represent the entire women's team, were only formed in 1985, the US have won the Olympics four times and the World Cup three times, becoming the world's most successful women's football team.
"They are a unique case, sadly for the game, because we want more and more nations and teams in that position where financially they're bringing a huge income," said Sampson.
"The players have every right to argue their case that they deserve a fair share of that income if they're bringing it in themselves.
"Unfortunately we're not in that position yet. We need money from the FA to redevelop and grow our game, and the FA are putting lots of money in.
"We want to get ourselves in a position where we are competing on the pitch and winning trophies, and as a result of that I'd like to think more money comes in, and then potentially we can start having those discussions in the future.
"In the short term, credit to them for getting themselves in that position and it'll be interesting to see what happens in the future."
