Rapinoe Calls Out Former USSF President’s ‘Misogyny’ in Reaction to His Potential Return

The USWNT star highlighted the former U.S. Soccer president’s previous “caveman levels of misogyny.”

Former U.S. Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro is reportedly thinking about seeking his old seat again after receiving multiple nominations despite previously resigned amid controversy.  

USWNT star Megan Rapinoe reshared ESPN’s report on Twitter Tuesday, highlighting one portion of the story, “'…after resigning under pressure’ or resigned bc he embarrassed everything and everyone with caveman levels of misogyny?”

Cordeiro was elected as the U.S. Soccer Federation president in 2018, but resigned in March 2020 amid backlash from court filings pertaining to the USWNT equal pay lawsuit. The filing reportedly says they “do not perform equal work requiring equal skill [and] effort” to the men’s team because “the overall soccer-playing ability required to compete at the senior men’s national team level is materially influenced by the level of certain physical attributes such as speed and strength.”

A conference call was later made among the USSF board of directors and Cordeiro decided to resign from his post after pressure from executives, sponsors and players. He said in a statement announcing his resignation that he did not review the documents before they were filed, but “had I done so, I would have objected to the language that did not reflect my personal admiration for our women’s players or our values as an organization." 

A day prior, the U.S. women’s national team wore their training gear inside out in order to hide the crest. Following the match, Rapinoe blasted the USSF for the language. 

“We’ve sort of felt that those are some of the undercurrent feelings that they've had for a long time,” Rapinoe said, per ESPN. “But to see that as the argument, as blatant misogyny and sexism as the argument against us, is really disappointing.

“But I just want to say, it’s all false. To every girl out there, to every boy out there, who watches this team, who wants to be on this team, or just wants to live their dream out, you are not lesser just because you’re a girl. You are not better just because you’re a boy.”

The equal pay lawsuit was dismissed, but the players filed an appeal, which the oral arguments are slated to begin in March.