Hope Solo, 4 other members of U.S. women’s soccer team, claim wage discrimination

Five members of the U.S. women’s soccer team, including Seattle Reign goalie Hope Solo, are accusing the U.S. Soccer Federation of wage discrimination.

Solo and four other players, Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and Becky Sauerbrunn, say they are tired of making less than the players on the U.S. men’s team.

The filing with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which cites figures from the federation’s 2015 financial report, says the women make nearly four times less than the U.S. men’s team, even though the women’s team generated nearly $20 million more in revenue last year than the men’s team.

The filing says women players would earn $99,000 each if they won 20 friendly matches, the minimum number they are required to play in a year.

Male players would likely earn $263,320 and would get $100,000, even if they lost all 20 games.

ESPN reported the women receive no extra pay for playing more than 20 games, while the men get between $5,000 and $17,625 for each game played beyond 20.

ESPN says pay for playing in the World Cup also differs greatly, according to figures. The U.S. women’s team received a total of $2 million after winning the World Cup last year. When the U.S. men played in the World Cup in Brazil in 2014, the team lost and still earned a total of $9 million.

“We are the best in the world, have three World Cup Championships, four Olympic Championships, and the (men) get paid more to just show up than we get paid to win major championships,” Solo told NBC’s “Today” on Thursday.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will conduct an investigation.

The U.S. Soccer Federation issued the following statement:

“Our efforts to be advocates for women’s soccer are unwavering. For 30 years, we have been a world leader in promoting the women’s game and are proud of the long-standing commitment we have made to building women’s soccer in the United States and furthering opportunities in soccer for young women and girls around the world. This includes leading the successful campaign to introduce women’s soccer in the Olympics in 1996, the inclusion of prize money for the Women’s World Cup, and the establishment and support of the National Women’s Soccer League, which is now in its fourth year of play.

We are committed to and engaged in negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement that addresses compensation with the Women’s National Team Players Association, to take effect when the current CBA expires at the end of this year. U.S. Soccer will continue to be an advocate on the global soccer stage to influence and develop the women’s game and evolve FIFA’s compensation model.

After three unsuccessful attempts by private entities to maintain a women’s professional league, U.S. Soccer committed to investing in and administering the National Women’s Soccer League to ensure our women’s players would have an ongoing professional environment in which to continue their careers. As part of this, Women’s National Team players are paid full-time salaries and other compensation.

Development initiatives also remain a top priority for U.S. Soccer and we are continuously looking for innovative ways to facilitate player development at all levels. Since 2012, U.S. Soccer has employed a Women’s Technical Director and invested in full-time coaches for the Youth Women’s National Teams. Just recently, we announced the launch of a Girls’ Development Academy Program in the fall of 2017 to further assist in maximizing female youth player development across the country. We are committed to continuing to elevate women’s soccer in the future at all levels.”