Megan Rapinoe fuses politics, pay and tech with World Cup win | Inquirer Sports

Megan Rapinoe fuses politics, pay and tech with World Cup win

/ 01:55 PM July 08, 2019
Megan Rapinoe US

United States’ Megan Rapinoe holds the trophy celebrating at the end of the Women’s World Cup final soccer match between US and The Netherlands at the Stade de Lyon in Decines, outside Lyon, France, Sunday, July 7, 2019. The US defeated the Netherlands 2-0. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

LYON, France — A Women’s World Cup stirred by heated debates on politics, pay and technology saw the narratives fused in Sunday’s final by the undisputed and outspoken star of the tournament: Megan Rapinoe.

By opening the scoring with a penalty awarded after a video review, Rapinoe claimed a sixth goal and — thanks to three assists and playing fewer minutes — finished as the Golden Boot winner of the most-watched FIFA women’s tournament.

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Winning the top player prize provided the pink-haired captain renowned for her individuality and activism with a platform for both after the Americans completed their title defense with a 2-0 victory over the Netherlands.

The forward got to collect her scoring trophy before the main prize was handed out in Lyon, and revel in the adulation.

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But only after the introduction of French President Emmanuel Macron and FIFA counterpart Gianni Infantino for the on-field trophy presentation was followed by boos and chants of “equal pay” — thousands taking up Rapinoe’s campaign for more equitable prize money from the World Cup organizers and compensation from the U.S. federation.

“A little public shame never hurt anyone,” Rapinoe said with a winners’ medal around her neck. “So I am down with it.”

Not down with a visit to the White House, though, with Rapinoe’s rejection of a post-tournament visit delivered publicly in a video that emerged during the World Cup.

“Megan should WIN first before she TALKS!” President Donald Trump responded in tweet that lit up the tournament. “Finish the job!”

When the job was finished Sunday, thanks to Rose Lavelle also scoring, only congratulations came from Trump — for the entire team.

“Great and exciting play,” he tweeted. “America is proud of you all!”

In the hours before the Americans won a record fourth World Cup, Rapinoe found an advocate for the pursuit of greater pay equality in the French president.

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“We need to go progressively toward that,” Macron said. “We should progressively converge.”

That is undermined by the prize money for the men’s World Cup in 2022 jumping to $440 million when the women’s teams will only split $60 million in 2023.

This time, it is only half that.

Victory gave the Americans $4 million — double the amount earned four years ago — as part of a $30 million prize pot but lagging the $38 million earned by France for lifting the men’s trophy last July in Moscow.

On the eve of the final, sitting in the same news conference position occupied by Infantino a day earlier, Rapinoe rebuked the head of soccer’s governing body for disrespecting women as the prize-money gulf widens with the winners of the men’s World Cups.

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TAGS: Fifa, Gianni Infantino, Megan Rapinoe, World Cup
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