Adidas announces bonuses for Women’s World Cup winners to be same as men’s

Canada defender Rebecca Quinn and United States forward Alex Morgan, left, vie for the ball. (Eric Risberg/AP)

Friday was International Women’s Day and to help celebrate, Adidas took a big step in support of gender equality.

In a statement written by Adidas head of global brands and executive board member Eric Liedtke that was posted on social media, the sports apparel powerhouse company announced that “all Adidas athletes on the winning 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup team would receive the same performance bonus payout as their male peers.”

The 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup starts on June 7 with the World No. 1-ranked U.S. team expected to be the tournament favourite.

On Friday, the U.S. Women’s National Team filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against the United States Soccer Federation, alleging that “the USSF [had] utterly failed to promote gender equality.”

A few hours later, Adidas came out with their announcement seemingly in support of the legal action that all 28 members of the U.S. women’s team are levying against the USSF for what the team calls “institutionalized gender discrimination.”

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