The US men's national team blasted the US Soccer Federation in support of the equal pay fight by the American women's squad, the reigning World Cup champions.
In a blistering statement released on the website of the US National Soccer Team Players Association, the US men's national team union, the squad backed their female counterparts in their ongoing fight for equal money and support from US Soccer.
"The Federation has been working very hard to sell a false narrative to the public and even to members of Congress," the statement said on Wednesday.
"They have been using this false narrative as a weapon against current and former members of the United States Women's National Team (USWNT)."
"They're trying to protect their monopoly, their massive revenue streams, and their continued ability to exploit US national team players. It's time for this to stop."
Near the message's end, the US men declared: "Soccer is perhaps the most corrupt sport in the World. We do not want a US Soccer Federation that behaves like FIFA."
"At the same time, every training session and game carries the risk of injury."
"The federation still claims it cannot afford to pay the players a fair share of the federation's revenue from selling the efforts of those players to fans, sponsors, and television."
- US women due 'at least triple' -
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US men signed a 2011-2018 deal for a 25% pay hike but claimed "it never came close to a fair percentage of the federation's national team revenues."
"This is systematic gender discrimination that should have never happened."
"The women were due at least triple what our expired deal was worth in player compensation," the statement said. "We believe the federation should have agreed to a deal directly tied to a fair share of the revenue players generate."