For years, the U.S. women’s national team has been fighting the U.S. Soccer Federation alleging unequal pay. The dispute was as much a legal saga as it was cultural touchpoint, capturing the zeitgeist and dominating headlines. It was perhaps no clearer than after the USWNT won the Women’s World Cup in France in 2019 and the crowd’s chants in Lyon morphed from “U-S-A!” to “equal pay!”
But it’s over now. On Tuesday, the players and U.S. Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone presented a united front to announce that a settlement had been reached and the lawsuit was going to end. It’s a moment for the history books: the conclusion of one of the most contentious battles between U.S. Soccer and the USWNT.
How did this lawsuit start and why does it feel like it’s taken years?
The lawsuit that has been settled was filed on March 8, 2019, which happened to fall on International Women’s Day and was…
