Rapinoe Plays for More than Just Trophies

The 2019 United States women’s national soccer team is recognized as the greatest women’s team of all time. They won the World Cup in France while tallying a record breaking 26 goals for and never trailed a team for the whole tournament. Their dominance did not go unnoticed, Time Magazine recognized the entire team as the Athlete of the Year. All these titles are incredible, however, that is not what stood out about them. The teams dominance was lead by the incredible individual talents in Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe. The two buried 6 goals a piece and played a key role in the teams success in the tournament. What stood out most though is the teams ability to spread awareness in the wage gap between women and men.

The women are supposedly going to win earnings of $250,000 each, which is an incredible payout. Though that number may seem large, it is nothing compared to the predicted number had the mens national team won the World Cup. The men would have won $1.1 million had they won.

The Guardian broke down each of the numbers for the Women’s team. “Players make a $37,500 bonus for making the World Cup roster, $3,000 for each qualification game they win (they made $15,000 for winning all five in the tournament), $37,500 for making the World Cup Final, then $110,000 for winning the World Cup.” The 2019 women’s World Cup had a budget of $30 million in prize money whereas the men had $400 million in prize money. When recognizing the problem, Fifa president Gianni Infantino considered doubling the prize money which seemed like a major win for the women, but Rapinoe was not satisfied. The back to back champs felt like they were being robbed of money they earned and disrespected, so instead of accepting the money they decided to take a stand and show the world the wage gape between genders.

Rapinoe was angered because Fifa was setting the women’s team up to struggle gaining media attention. Fifa scheduled the Gold cup, a major championship game featuring mens national teams from North and South America, for the same day that the women’s World Cup was played. Of course this would steal viewers from the biggest game in women’s soccer. Rapinoe stated, “Money from FIFA, money from federations. Money from advertisers, sponsors, rights-holders, TV. All of that. And obviously not just blindly throwing cash at things, but investing in infrastructure, in training programs or academies for women, in coaching for women. All of it.” She wanted to see more money and sponsors to be put into the women’s World Cup in order to increase their payment and prize money. Rapinoe was one of the first to call out Infantino in his discrepancies in treatment between the men and women’s soccer teams but she didn’t stop there.

Rapinoe was able to use the stage that she had earned to speak about racism and homophobia in Fifa.

Rapinoe told the story of an Iranian girl who was killed for attempting to watch a soccer game in Iran. She asked her viewers and her fan base to be angered by the events that have occurred and the ongoing lack of respect women receive. She then turned her speach to professional athletes. Rapinoe said, “That’s my ask of everybody. As professional footballers … we have so much success … we have incredible platforms. I ask everybody here to lend your platform, to lift people up, to use this beautiful game to change the world for better.” She was asking them to use the following they had earned through their hard work to spread awareness. She recognized the power of professional athletes as activist and is counting on them to make a change.

All US championship teams earn the honor of visiting the White House however Rapinoe said she would not go to the White House if her team won the World Cup to take a stance against him. This is a similar action to Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors. In response to her claim of not taking the once in a lifetime opportunity to visit the White House, Trump sent her a message via twitter.

Trump speaks about his accomplishments while he has been in office and reminds her she was not even invited yet but later in the tweet he invites her. In showing his accomplishments he is asking her what she really is protesting. He also mentions what the United States has done for her. She was given the opportunity to play soccer and make $250,000 in doing so while her Iraqi counterpart was killed for attempting to watch a game live. Even if she did not believe in the way he was running the country, the least she could have done was go to the White House and start a conversation with him.

The public responses to Trump’s tweet were mostly in support of Rapinoe. Many speaking about her honor and integrity and stating that Trump has none, which was part of her reasoning for not wanting to go.

One loyal fan posted calling President Trump out for being childish and immature. Her following stood up for her and was able to spread her message and her fame through twitter.

Megan Rapinoe is an incredible social activist who earned her following through excellence in soccer. She speaks up for those who don’t have the same public stature that she does. It is easy for professional athletes to focus on money more yet she was more concerned about righting many wrongs that have been present in the history of soccer and the United States. Professional athletes are effective social activists because of their respect and their following that have earned, but it is important that they stay focused on what they stand up for, or in some cases kneel for, and not get distracted by money and attention.

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