‘Equal play, equal pay’: moral grounds for equal pay in football

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate three different ways of defending the claim that national football associations ought to pay their men's and women's football teams the same amount. First, we consider an argument that appeals to the principle of equal pay for equal work. We argue that this 'labor rights' argument provides a good reason for some national football associations to pay their men's and women's teams the same amount but that these are the exception rather than the rule. Next, we consider an alternative argument, which appeals to the 'expressive power' of paying women's football teams the same as men's. We argue that this argument can be applied more generally than the first argument and gives a good reason for many football associations to pay their men's and women's teams equally. However, this argument struggles to show that associations have a moral obligation to pay their men's and women's teams the same. We finish by considering the 'argument from historical injustice'. We argue that this argument provides plausible grounds for thinking that many associations not only have moral reasons to pay their men's and women's teams equally, but that they also have a moral obligation and a political responsibility to do so.

An institutional analysis of gender (in)equalities, COVID-19 and governance of elite women's football in Australia, England and the USA

“…This was not the first time that the USWNT had sued U.S. Soccer; five members of the team filed a federal complaint commonly referred to as "Equal Play, Equal Pay" in 2017 over claims of wage discrimination by U.S. Soccer when compared to the men's national team's pay and was settled out of court (cf. Archer & Prange, 2019). At the start of the pandemic, the USWNT's 2019 lawsuit had yet to receive a summary judicial judgement.…”

“…Please consider donating at www.storkinesiology.org/annual 3 global economic downturn caused by the pandemic has exposed gender inequalities -with women disproportionally affected by unpaid care and housework, and economic hardshipand hence has implications for gender equality (Alon et al, 2020). Like other fundamental aspects of society, sport has not been immune to these gendered effects; recent pay issues have been brought to the forefront and challenged; see, for example, United States Women's National Team (USWNT) pay dispute (Archer & Prange, 2019). While governing bodies have an ethical and social responsibility to advance gender equality, they must also consider the pandemic's economic impact and how their finite resources are distributed (Nicola et al, 2020).…”

Türkiye futbolunda kadın: “İş”i olmayan ve olmaması gereken yerde

“…Futbol içinde kadınların ötekileştirmesi bu yazıdaki referansların da gösterdiği gibi Türkiye'ye özgü bir şey değil; bunun kendisi önemli bir veri. Daha önce de söz ettiğim gibi, kadın futbolunun öne çıktığı birden çok yerde hâlâ eşit işe eşit ücret mücadelesi devam ediyor (Archer ve Prange 2019). Yaptığım futbolcu görüşmelerinde söz eşitliğe geldiğinde ben de bu örnekleri verdim.…”

From ‘philosophy of sport’ to ‘philosophies of sports’? History, identity and diversification of sport philosophy

“…While not forgetting earlier studies, like the ones of women in masculine sports (Postow 1980) and gender and sexuality in sport (Schneider 1995), recent articles have focused on topics that are part of the broader feminist culture testing gender borders and gender equality in various areas of life. Recent contributions by female sport philosophers show the diversity of the new testing, which include topics such as transgender women in sport (Bianchi 2017), gender equality in tennis (Davis and Edwards 2017), lesbian athletes and the heterosexual matrix (Tredway 2014), gender in fighting sports (Weaving 2014), gender and competition (English 2017), gender eauality in the Olympic movement (Koenigsberger (2017), sport and gender in Japan (Mizuho 2014), and the hot topic of 'equal play, equal pay' in soccer (Archer & Prange 2019).…”