FRISCO, United States: Megan Rapinoe says the United States women’s team rejects an apology from the US Soccer Federation over language used in legal documentation filed this week.
The Ballon d’Or winner has also suggested arguments that have been made against the team are “blatant misogyny and sexism”. A year ago, Rapinoe and 27 of her US team-mates put their names to a lawsuit against the federation over equal pay and working conditions.
It was claimed in submissions from lawyers for the USSF filed this week, which can be viewed at documentcloud.org, that the job of a player for the men’s team “requires a higher level of skill based on speed and strength” than that of one for the women’s team, and that the former role “carries more responsibility” within the federation than the latter.
The women’s team subsequently wore tops inside out ahead of their SheBelieves Cup match against Japan, hiding the badge and leaving only four stars, for each of their World Cup wins, on display.
It was reported USSF president Carlos Cordeiro then issued a statement in which he apologised for offence caused by language in the filing, adding that it did not reflect the values of the federation.
Rapinoe, who scored the opening US goal as they beat Japan 3-1, was quoted by a number of media outlets as saying: “That (statement) wasn’t for us. That was for fans, for the media, for sponsors, because that all sounded pretty similar to what we’ve heard before.
“You want to talk about hostility? Every negotiation we’ve had, those undertones are in there, that we’re lesser — every mediation that we had, every time we meet with them and obviously the reason that we filed this lawsuit. So for him to put that out saying sorry presumably to us, we don’t buy it.” The court case is expected to begin on May 5.
