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P&G gives $529K to U.S. women World Cup champs for pay gap

By Clyde Hughes
The U.S. Women's Soccer team, shown here celebrating in New York City last week, was given $529,000 by Procter & Gamble, the company announced Sunday, in response for their call for equal pay with the men's team. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
The U.S. Women's Soccer team, shown here celebrating in New York City last week, was given $529,000 by Procter & Gamble, the company announced Sunday, in response for their call for equal pay with the men's team. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

July 15 (UPI) -- Retailer Procter & Gamble is donating more than a half-million dollars to the U.S. Women's Soccer Team, to shore up the pay gap between the men's and women's national teams.

The company announced in a full-page advertisement in The New York Times Sunday it's giving $529,000 to the team -- an extra $23,000 for all 23 players.

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"We believe women shouldn't have to sweat equal pay," it wrote on Twitter.

Procter & Gamble, which supports the United States Soccer Federation through its Secret deodorant brand, said the donation would be made to the women's national team's association. The U.S. Women's National Team won the World Cup a week ago.

In the full-page ad, Procter & Gamble called on U.S. Soccer to be on the "right side of history" in paying the women's team equally with the men.

"Let's take this moment of celebration to propel women's sports forward," the ad said. "We urge the U.S. Soccer Federation to be a beacon of strength and end gender pay inequality once and for all, for all players."

The women's team filed a wage-discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2016, saying they expect to earn thousands less than the men's team.

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Although the squad signed a new collective bargaining agreement with U.S. Soccer, they withdrew its EEOC complaint and filed a federal lawsuit in March over "institutional gender discrimination."

New York honors U.S. women's World Cup win with parade

Confetti falls on Megan Rapinoe and the players of the United States Women's Soccer team as they celebrate at City Hall. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

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