WE DIDN’T MEAN IT

U.S. Soccer Federation Sorry for Claiming Male Players Work Harder

The federation was accused of making sexist claims in court documents seeking to have a gender discrimination lawsuit dismissed.

The head of U.S. Soccer has issued an apology after the federation sparked outrage by arguing that members of the Men’s National Team have a harder job than those on the Women’s National Team. U.S. Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro on Wednesday acknowledged the “offense and pain” the comments had caused shortly after the federation’s longtime corporate sponsor, Coca-Cola, condemned the “unacceptable” remarks and demanded an explanation. The comments were included in court papers filed this week as part of the federation’s bid to have a federal court dismiss a gender discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Women’s National Team. In those documents, U.S. Soccer argued that “the job of MNT players carries more responsibility than the job of a WNT player” and that the job of those on the men’s team “requires materially more strength and speed than the job” of members of the women’s team. Cordeiro said the language used in the court filing “did not reflect the values of our federation or our tremendous admiration of our Women's National Team.”