More than 20,000 people have joined American national anti-sexism group UltraViolet in a new campaign calling on FIFA, the international governing body for soccer, to pay soccer players equally regardless of gender.
UltraViolet cites that women athletes broke records in 2011 when the Women’s World Cup final became ESPN’s most viewed and highest rated soccer match of all time. But six months from now, campaigners say that women who will play in the next World Cup will compete for less than half of what male players made.
This campaign is part of ongoing work by UltraViolet to promote economic equality for women. From fighting for the rights of pregnant workers to shaming states across the US for their pay gaps, the group aims to pressure both corporations and politicians to end gender-based pay and allow women equal access to economic opportunity.
Shaunna Thomas, co-founder of UltraViolet, said: “Women’s soccer, and especially the Women’s World Cup, is enormously popular in America. But FIFA is stuck in a bygone era, paying women astronomically less than their male counterparts. This has to end: we demand FIFA pay professional soccer players equally, regardless of gender.”
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