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Frank de Boer: I think equal pay is ridiculous

One Major League Soccer head coach has given his say on the issue regarding equal pay for men and women in soccer.

Atlanta United’s Frank de Boer may be in his first season as head coach of the defending MLS champs, but he hasn’t shied away from an issue continuing to grow not only in North America, but abroad.

“I think for me, it’s ridiculous,” De Boer said in an interview with The Guardian. “It’s the same like tennis. If there are watching, for the World Cup final, 500 million people or something like that, and 100 million for a women’s final, that’s a difference. So it’s not the same. And of course they have to be paid what they deserve to [earn] and not less, just what they really deserve. If it’s just as popular as the men, they will get it, because the income and the advertising will go into that. But it’s not like that, so why do they have to earn the same? I think it’s ridiculous. I don’t understand that.”

The U.S. Women’s National Team have recently been fighting for equal pay after recently winning their fourth all-time FIFA World Cup title. Despite a raise to $30 million prize money for winning the World Cup in France, the USWNT still were $418 million short than 2018’s FIFA Men’s World Cup winners, France.

de Boer has seen both success with the Netherlands National Teams during his playing days and as a head coach, but still isn’t agreeing with equal pay. The Royal Dutch Football Association has already pledged equal pay for its men’s and women’s teams, with the women’s earning yearly raises through 2023 when they will be equal to the men’s team.

“I think it started because a woman [was] getting underpaid, especially at [managerial] positions,” he told the newspaper. “They have to earn the same as a man. I think if you have a manager position for a bank or something, you have to earn the same what the men did because it’s not physically, just only here [points to head], so why do you have to earn less, because you’re doing the same job as a man? I think that’s also dropped a little bit into the sports world, like tennis and soccer. But I think that’s still different.”

There is yet to be a decision made regarding the U.S. teams involving equal pay, but the USWNT has continued to push for it.

Comments

  1. I can’t speak to the Dutch teams, but all your arguments weigh in favor of higher pay for the USWNT. They win far more and they draw bigger crowds than the USMNT. The fact that FIFA bankrolls the men’s WC at a higher rate is hardly the fault of US Soccer, which is free to hand out the revenue as they see fit.

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  2. Male soccer players make more when they are paid by their CLUBS, which are businesses operated in capitalist economies where demand influences wages. What we’re discussing are payments from the FEDERATION, a NONPROFIT whose mission statement is “to make soccer, in all its forms, a preeminent sport in the United States and to continue the development of soccer at all recreational and competitive levels.” Unbalanced pay between the men’s and women’s national teams implicitly prioritizes the development of male over the female players, which is in direct conflict with said mission statement.

    Let CLUBS pay whatever they want. But the USSF isn’t a for-profit business. Let their payments to players reflect their mission statement.

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  3. That’s what I thought, too. Even though he is making good, sound arguments, he is putting himself in the middle of a very contentious argument that may gain him some fans, but some enemies, too. Sometimes it’s better to just not voice an opinion and this is hardly a central issue to Atlanta or his job there.

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  4. Even if you think it, what does he gain by saying it.
    What I am saying is, I can see someone having that viewpoint, but why him saying it?
    .
    If I state a viewpoint, nothing lost, barely anyone even knows who I am.
    But not him.
    I don’t need to state a viewpoint, because I have nothing to gain….same as him.

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    • The men still pull the World Cup money wagon. The men’s World Cup in Russia generated over $6 billion in revenue, with the participating teams sharing $400 million, less than 7% of revenue. Meanwhile, the Women’s World Cup is expected to earn $131 million for the full four-year cycle 2019-22 and dole out $30 million to the participating teams.

      I am NOT voicing an opinion here just showing stats from Forbes. It seems like the US woman are bringing in money from friendlies etc. on TV all the time, playing all the time, etc. And the men…..failed to make the WCup.

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  5. Yup, he’s right. Unfortunately, this site and a lot of others (ESPN) are either on the PC bandwagon, ignorant of economics or both.

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  6. Economics is determined by supply and demand and how much you are paid is based on that, and not on entitlement.

    If that were the case, why do male models earn less than female models? Why are reporters not asking the hard questions like this when arguments are brought up of equal pay?

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    • He’s not right. Male soccer players make more money from their CLUB teams – businesses operating in capitalist economies where supply and demand dictate salary. The women’s team is arguing for equal compensation from their FEDERATION, which in theory, is not a CLUB team operating to earn a profit (hence, their non-profit status).

      It comes down to whether or not your FEDERATION values the contribution of your women’s team as much as it does the men’s team. So, while I fully understand why male players make more from their private CLUBS and endorsements, it makes absolutely no sense to me that our nonprofit FEDERATION, which is supposed to encourage and grow the game in the US across races, genders, and geographical areas, would implicitly devalue the contributions of our women’s team to that effort.

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    • No. He’s not right. Male soccer players make more when they are paid by their CLUBS, which are businesses operated in capitalist economies where demand influences wages. What we’re discussing are payments from the FEDERATION, a NONPROFIT whose mission statement is “to make soccer, in all its forms, a preeminent sport in the United States and to continue the development of soccer at all recreational and competitive levels.” Unbalanced pay between the men’s and women’s national teams implicitly prioritizes the development of male over the female players, which is in direct conflict with said mission statement.

      CLUBS have different priorities than our FEDERATION. And wages should reflect that. Let CLUBS pay whatever makes sense from a business perspective. USSF isn’t a for-profit business.

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  7. Any logical person comes to this conclusion instantaneously in his or her mind. De Boer displays that perfectly here. No one cares to think things through any more.

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  8. I agree with de Boer. It’s also a very complicated issue with lots of arguments on both sides. Bottom line is the U.S. women deserve to be paid a lot for being the best team in the world, but not every country can pay their women’s team the same if their women’s team is terrible and no one watches. Also, what happens when the U.S. men win the world cup?. Still paying everyone the same then? “Equal pay” should not be a rule.
    Also, de Boer is doing a good job.

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