In the same day all 28 players on the U.S. Women's National Team filed a gender discrimination suit against the U.S. Soccer Federation citing inequities affecting everything from the team's pay, training and travel to medical treatment, a sportswear company vowed to close the wage gap between the FIFA World Cup champions.
Adidas announced Friday athletes on the winning team of this year's women's tournament will receive a bonus equal to their male peers.
"We believe in inspiring and enabling the next generation of female athletes, creators and leaders through breaking barriers.
"Today we are announcing that all Adidas athletes on the winning 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup team will receive the same performance bonus payout as their male peers," executive board member Eric Liedtke said in a statement.
Equal pay for equal play.#WWC #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/F9UD7zvp6s
— adidas (@adidas) March 8, 2019
The wage gap for the World Cup winners as it stands now is significant.
The winning women's team will receive $4 million, which is an increase from $2 million in 2015. However, in July, the French men's team received $38 million for winning the World Cup — a little more than $1.65 million for each of the 23 men on the roster, while the women will walk away with a little less than $174,000 before Adidas' bonus.
However, it is unclear if the bonus would extend to the USWNT.
The women, who are the defending world champions and a favorite to repeat, are sponsored by Nike — not Adidas.
Adidas produces kits of many association football teams around the world and has manufactured the balls used in the FIFA World Cup tournaments, as well as the UEFA Champions League, since 1970.
