The US women's soccer team won a six-year battle for the same pay as the men's team.
According to the Associated Press today (23rd), the American women's players and the American Football Association have reached an agreement of 24 million dollars (about 28.6 billion won), which has been litigating 'equal pay for men and women'.
The American Football Association has agreed to pay a total of $22 million to women players.
That's one-third of the $66 million in damages the women players were demanding.
In addition, it was decided to set up a $2 million fund to support female players' post-retirement life and to conduct business for the development of women's soccer.
The American Football Association has also promised to pay the women's players the same level as the men's team, including bonuses for World Cup tournaments.
The American Football Association's position has been that it is difficult to pay the same level of wages as the prize money for the Women's World Cup is less than one-tenth that of the Men's World Cup.
The fight between the women's national team and the American Football Association began in 2016.
Five female star players, including Alex Morgan, Megan Ruffino and Hope Solo, have filed a complaint with the federal government on behalf of the women's players, saying that it is unreasonable to be paid less than the men's.
The main reason that female players demanded equal pay was 'performance'.
So far, the U.S. women's national team has won the World Cup and the Olympics four times.
On the other hand, the men's national team achieved the best performance in the quarterfinals of the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup over the past 50 years.
In 2019, the women's national team filed a civil suit for compensation for wage discrimination and lost in the first trial, but immediately appealed and has been fighting in court.
(Photo = Getty Images Korea)