The American Football Association has taken to Twitter to refute several allegations from a lawyer who works with the US women’s national team during their equal pay.
Using their communications department account, the United States started the 17-thread by saying that attorney Jeffrey Kessler “presents a misleading and inaccurate statement of facts” in a new HBO documentary titled LFG.
The US Football Association refused to participate in the documentary, as the Washington Post reported that HBO approached the organization late in production and did not provide enough information about the project on screen.
“In the new movie ‘LFG’, there is a concern about American football and USWNT’s compensation that we believe needs to be addressed,” their Twitter thread began.
Kessler’s own acknowledgment in the film that some of the things he says are “a bit exaggerated” refers to much of the misleading information he presents, conveniently without context or specific details. So we would like to talk about real facts, ”read the second tweet.
In the new film “LFG”, there is a concern about US Soccer and USWNT’s compensation that we believe needs to be addressed. Specifically, attorney Jeffrey Kessler presents a misleading and inaccurate statement of facts.
(Thread) 1/17
– US Soccer Comms (@ussoccer_comms) June 24, 2021
The documentary shows the story of USWNT’s equal pay trial through the eyes of players, including testimonies from Becky Sauerbrunn, Megan Rapinoe, Jessica McDonald, Kelley O’Hara and Sam Mewis. Despite player involvement, the US Football Association simply attacked Kessler’s words and description of the situation.
Kessler has not been silent since the Twitter thread.
“Unfortunately, the USSF continues to try to write about the past and tells the story that it has offered equal pay to world champion female players, but it has not,” Kessler said in a statement when contacted by ESPN on Friday.
Several USWNT players have participated in the documentary / Soccrates Images / Getty Images
In addition to equal pay, the federation refuted claims about hotel accommodation, air travel, revenue generation, TV ratings and World Cup prize money.
In April, a federal referee granted a partial agreement between the USWNT and the USSF on unequal conditions in football. That decision made it possible for the squad to appeal their demands for equal pay in May.
Prior to the incident, USSF President Cindy Parlow Cone explicitly mentioned that she was asking the organization to “make a difference in FIFA prize money, one of the most important requests in the USWNT trial is unsustainable and is likely to bankrupt them.”
