NEW YORK (AP) — Carlos Cordeiro is running to regain his job as U.S. Soccer Federation president,
Cordeiro was immediately criticized by women’s national team star midfielder Megan Rapinoe, who accused him in a tweet of allowing “caveman levels of misogyny.”
Cordeiro, a former Goldman Sachs partner, headed the federation from 2018-2020. He resigned in March 2020, three days after the federation’s filing prompted widespread criticism from players, MLS Commissioner Don Garber and sponsors that included The Coca-Cola Co., Anheuser Busch Cos. Inc., The Procter & Gamble Co. and Volkswagen Group.
The federation said in the filing that the women's team players who sued the organization in a pay dispute "ask the court to conclude that the ability required of an WNT player is equal to the ability required of an MNT player, as a relative matter, by ignoring the materially higher level of speed and strength required to perform the job of an MNT player.”
“I had put in place multiple layers of oversight to ensure that the litigation with the women’s national team was conducted in keeping with the values of our federation,” Cordeiro said in a statement Wednesday. “In hindsight, I realize that a matter of this importance deserved much more personal oversight from me so that the Federation’s legal strategy and filings showed our women’s players the respect and dignity they deserve.
"When those layers of oversight failed, it resulted in the inexcusable and offensive legal filing that caused so much pain, especially for our incredible women’s players. Had I seen that language, I would have objected and never allowed it to be submitted as written. Given the severity of what happened, words of apology were clearly not enough. As the president of our federation, I felt it was important to take responsibility.”
Cordeiro
Rapinoe, one of the players suing the federation,
“One of the things that I resolve to do better is to listen more closely to the perspectives and aspirations of our women’s national team players and be a better partner in their work for equality,” Cordeiro said.
Cordeiro was
Under Parlow Cone’s leadership,
The players sued the federation in March 2019 claiming they had not been paid equitably under the collective bargaining agreement that ran through December 2021, compared to what the men’s team receives under its agreement that expired in December 2018. U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner
Players have appealed the wage decision, and
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