Entertainment

U.S. Soccer’s Bizarre Twitter Rant Makes Me Want To Watch ‘LFG’ Even More

By Travis Yoesting June 25, 2021
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A new USWNT documentary has ruffled the USSF’s feathers.
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Released on June 24 on HBO Max, “LFG” is a documentary following members of the U.S. women’s national team in their fight for equal pay from the U.S. Soccer Federation. Based on the tweets from U.S. Soccer this week, I need to get an HBO Max subscription ASAP to see what has the USSF in such a tizzy.

LFG is the USWNT’s adopted slogan, an acronym for “Let’s Fucking Go!” The film, which debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival in June, appears to be “Let’s fucking go after USSF,” if a recent Twitter thread is anything to go by. 

Having only seen the trailer, you can get a good idea of what the movie is about: The best soccer team in the world fighting to win fair treatment while kicking ass on the pitch. The USWNT wins way more than the USMNT but is not compensated as well as the men’s team, and a lot of people want that to change (including many of the men’s players). 

On Thursday, the day the film released, U.S. Soccer responded to the LFG movie with a massive 17-part thread/rant on Twitter. Going through the U.S. Soccer Comms feed, the USSF mansplained any potential false statement that might have been made in the movie. 

Reading the thread, it’s hard to argue with any of the individual statistics thrown out, at least not without having a law degree or inside information. But it misses the point and is a really fucked up way to go after the folks who make your non-profit organization so much money. 

A Twitter thread is hardly the place for nuanced discussion on pay disputes. Imagine if you asked your boss for a raise and his response was to take to social media to point out why you get a fair rate and you should be happy with what you’ve got. This should have been done as a press release or email to media/politicians, not a Twitter rant. 

It all just makes me want to watch the movie even more to see why the USSF felt this was the appropriate response.

U.S. Soccer is losing the argument not with facts but with feelings.

Anyone who has paid an ounce of attention to the equal pay fight knows it’s not just about dollar-to-dollar comparisons with the men, which are nearly impossible to make for a variety of reasons, not least of which is because of FIFA’s inability to create even playing fields with prize money. Instead this is about giving the best damn team in the world equitable pay from a non-profit organization that has plenty of money. The USSF needs to stop hiding behind exploitable facts, figures and claims of fairness as if they are legitimate excuses for not paying the USWNT more. 

Sure, U.S. Soccer could blame FIFA for not providing more prize money at the Women’s World Cup, but as Grant Wahl pointed out, there’s no public evidence of the USSF actually pushing FIFA for equal pay. 

In a way, U.S. Soccer benefits from the status quo.

The U.S. is a wealthy nation with has a long-standing college soccer structure — which, mind you, also fights to not pay its athletes — that helped it become one of the best in the world. The USWNT would be at a disadvantage if every other country in the world suddenly put money into women’s soccer. Just look at the shit women’s national teams in Concacaf have to go through, like the Reggae Girlz not getting paid for nine months despite qualifying for their first Women’s World Cup. 

The point isn’t that U.S. Soccer does better by its women than most of the rest of the world (though many countries have begun to adopt equal pay structures). The point is that U.S. Soccer needs to stop fucking arguing that men are superior and do the right thing. 

On the same day as the USSF Twitter rant, Democratic congresswomen introduced a bill that would require U.S. national team athletes to be paid equally, regardless of gender. This follows a bill that was introduced earlier in June that threatens to prohibit federal funds for the men’s 2026 World Cup (hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico) unless U.S. Soccer provides equitable pay between the USMNT and USWNT. 

Personally, I hope legislation isn’t the answer. But as we’ve in human rights cases throughout U.S. history, sometimes lawmakers must step in to enforce equal treatment. If U.S. Soccer continues to refuse, then maybe a law should be passed, though hopefully not one that draws the ire of FIFA, which has a strong stance against meddling from politicians. (Unless you’re Russia or Qatar, in which case they’ll just take that blood money without question.)

U.S. Soccer has done a lot of good for women’s soccer not just at home but abroad. By capitalizing on what Title IX has done for college sports in America, the USSF has helped foster the best international soccer team in the history of the game. But taking to Twitter to rant about how the USWNT players are wrong by pointing to insignificant figures instead of just paying the players a little bit more is just digging the Federation a deeper hole. 

Fans see what U.S. Soccer is doing here. A wealthy federation is fighting tooth and nail to avoid spending a little more money to create a level playing field. So if the USSF is going to act like a Twitter troll, it sure wasn’t surprising when Twitter trolled them right back.

Arguing on the internet is like playing the USWNT in soccer — no matter what, you’re going to lose.

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