Presidential candidate Bill de Blasio promised to pay female athletes equally prior to the parade honoring the U.S. women’s soccer winning the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
“This also has to be a moment we finally break through on pay equity. And this country’s lagging far behind. The fact that our women are paid so much less than men, they’re champions, they bring in a huge amount of revenue for U.S. Soccer,” de Blasio told CNN on Wednesday. “So let me say, it’s time to change that. I’ll tell you what I would do, and you know, I’m running for president.
“If I were president of the United States, I would insist that Congress pass an amendment to the Amateur Sports Act requiring — requiring equal pay for men and women in all of our national sports teams,” he said.
De Blasio said if Congress does not act, then he will issue an executive order to have the Treasury Department enforce equal pay on the U.S. Soccer Federation. He also said he would sign the Paycheck Fairness Act into law, so there will be equal pay nationwide.
After the U.S. women’s soccer team won against the Netherlands 2-0, spectators in the stands chanted “equal pay!”
In audited financial statements obtained by the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Soccer Federation found the women’s team has generated more money for them than the men’s team for the past three years.
