U.S. Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.), along with other senators, have introduced legislation that would require the U.S. Soccer Federation to agree to provide equitable pay to the women’s and men’s national teams in order to receive federal funds related to the 2026 World Cup, according to a June 10 statement posted on Van Hollen’s website.

The statement noted that while federal funds are not directly appropriated toward U.S. Soccer, there are various ways that federal funding will likely be used by U.S. Soccer and its affiliates, including FIFA and Concacaf, during the next World Cup in 2026, which, according to FIFA’s website, will be hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Those ways include any and all funds provided to host cities, participating local and state organizations, the U.S. Soccer Federation, Concacaf, and FIFA, the statement added.

Other senators who joined Van Hollen and Cardin in introducing the Give Our Athletes Level Salaries (GOALS) Act include U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), according to the statement.

As noted in a document posted on Van Hollen’s website, Manchin is reintroducing the GOALS Act. According to that document, a player on the U.S. Women’s National Team, which has won four World Cup titles, including the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup held in France, earns $28,333 less than a similarly situated player on the men’s team.

The men’s team has not won a World Cup, and did not qualify to participate in the most recently held World Cup in 2018.

Among other things, the document noted that from fiscal year 2016 to 2018, women’s games generated about $900,000 more revenue than men’s games.

U.S. Soccer, according to the document, was created by the Amateur Sports Act in 1978, which requires national sports organizations to “provide equitable support and encouragement for participation by women where separate programs for male and female athletes are conducted on a national basis.”

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