Alex Morgan Says U.S. Women's National Team Is Optimistic About Equal Pay Proposals

United States women's soccer star Alex Morgan commented Wednesday on the United States Soccer Federation offering the USWNT equal pay to the men's team.

According to ESPN, Morgan said:

"We still need to chat about the statement given by U.S. Soccer. But any commitment to equal pay publicly is good.

"However, we need to look line by line at what they're actually providing, because if you have equal but it's not even what we got before, or to the value that we are, then we still consider that to be not good enough. We will continue to work with U.S. Soccer moving forward, looking towards equal and fair payment and treatment."

Morgan added:

"We don't want to start the new year without a new CBA in effect, so that's the number one priority of our PA, of our legal team. Looking at the [USSF] statements, it's difficult to say. We want to feel encouraged and we want to be optimistic, but we have seen a lot of statements before.

"What we really want to do is see what we can do at the negotiation table, see those statements be put into action in those negotiations. So, of course, we're always hopeful; you have to continue to have hope."

U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday that it had offered the USWNT and USMNT identical proposals in an effort to create "a single collective bargaining agreement (CBA) structure."

As part of its statement, the USSF said the CBA proposal would make the USWNT and USMNT "among the highest-paid senior national team players in the world" and would include a revenue-sharing structure.

The United States Women's National Team Players Association ripped the offer on Twitter, calling it a "PR stunt:"

The USWNT and USMNT play under different collective bargaining agreements, and the USWNT's CBA is set to expire at the end of 2021.

Currently, the USWNT is in the midst of a lawsuit against the USSF, alleging the USSF has been discriminatory and in violation of the Equal Pay Act.

The lawsuit was filed in 2019 before U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner dismissed it in 2020, stating that the USWNT turned down a pay structure similar to the one received by the USMNT in favor of base salaries and benefits rather than pay-for-play.

The USWNT filed an appeal in July to have the lawsuit reinstated.

In its latest offer, the USSF stressed the importance of equalizing World Cup prize money between the USMNT and USWNT.

While the USMNT missed the 2018 FIFA Men's World Cup in Russia, the USWNT has reached every FIFA Women's World Cup since the first tournament in 1991, winning four titles, including the most recent one in 2019. The USWNT has also won six Olympic medals, including four golds.

There has undoubtedly been a significant gap in performance between the USWNT and USMNT, and the USWNT continues to express its belief that the USSF is unwilling to provide fair and equal pay.

The USSF called the proposal "real, authentic and in good faith."