Trump says he talked to FIFA chief about making women's soccer 'more equitable'

Sept. 10 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump met with FIFA president Gianni Infantino at the White House and said the two discussed what can be done to make women's soccer "even better and more equitable."

Trump and Infantino on Monday also discussed the 2026 men's World Cup, which will be hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

"[Infantino is] the biggest man in soccer," Trump said. "And we are, as you probably know, getting the World Cup in 2026 for the United States. Some of it is a partnership with Mexico and Canada. And it's coming into the United States for a large percentage of the games, and we're very excited about it.

"Plus, Gianni and I just had a meeting on women's soccer and what everybody is going to do to make that even better and more equitable, etc."

France won the 2018 men's World Cup, which was hosted by Russia. The 2022 men's World Cup is scheduled for Qatar and will begins Nov. 21. The 2022 men's World Cup final is set for Dec. 18.

The U.S. women's team is coming off of its fourth World Cup title after beating the Netherlands 2-0 in the final July 7 in France. The women's team also won the 2015 World Cup and has long been one of the most-dominant national teams in women's soccer history.

The U.S. men's team failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup and hasn't advanced past the quarterfinals since 1930.

Despite the disparity in success, women's team players claim the men's team makes much more than them for international competition. That prompted 28 players on the women's team to file a gender discrimination lawsuit against the United States Soccer Federation in March. The federation and players attempted to mediate the pay dispute in August, but talks broke down.

The players are to go to trial against the federation in May. U.S. Soccer chief executive officer and secretary general Dan Flynn is set to retire Sept. 16. The federation's chief stakeholders officer, Brian Remedi, will take over for Flynn until a permanent replacement is found.

Infantino said there is "much more to do" when it comes to women's soccer in the United States.

"It's fantastic to be here and to boost even more soccer in this country," Infantino said. "Soccer, which is the No. 1 global sport. World Cup 2026 taking place here. But we start already now. It's the biggest event ever. It's more than 4 billion viewers all around the world. And we will make it the biggest not only sports event, but the biggest social event that we can think of.

"Soccer, which is a big part of this country, as well. And women's soccer, where you are world champion, there is much more to do. The president was saying this to me and he is right. And we are working on that and we will announce very soon some new initiatives."

The women players suing the federation did not respond immediately when asked for comment on Trump's meeting with Infantino.