LOS ANGELES • Carlos Cordeiro, the president of the United States Soccer Federation (USSF), abruptly resigned on Thursday night, relinquishing his post and taking responsibility for its decision to criticise the women's national team in a legal filing that was widely condemned as misogynistic.
He said he was ultimately responsible for US Soccer's legal strategy, and its language, in a much-criticised filing in the equal pay and gender discrimination lawsuit filed last year by 28 members of the US women's team, after they won the country's fourth World Cup.
He said the language in the federation's court documents, made public on Monday, was "unacceptable and inexcusable".
A trial date has been set for May 5 after talks between the two parties broke down.
The federation's court filing said men's national team players had a greater level of responsibility than the women's and that their job "requires a higher level of skill based on speed and strength".
Cordeiro, a 13-year veteran of the federation who became president in 2018, said it was clear after a discussion with the board of directors that a new direction was needed.
"The arguments and language contained in this week's legal filing caused great offence and pain, especially to our extraordinary women's national team players who deserve better," he said in a statement.
"It was unacceptable and inexcusable. I did not have the opportunity to fully review the filing in its entirety before it was submitted, and I take responsibility for not doing so.
"Had I done so, I would have objected to language that did not reflect my personal admiration for our women's players or our values as an organisation."
The language prompted an on-field protest by players, who wore their warm-up jerseys inside out to obscure the US Soccer logo before their 3-1 win over Japan in Frisco, Texas on Wednesday, and critical response from several of the team's commercial partners.
Five of US Soccer's biggest sponsors - Coca-Cola, Volkswagen, Budweiser, Visa and Deloitte - all condemned the federation's legal tactics.
In a statement, for instance, Volkswagen said it was "disgusted" by the positions taken, and that they were "simply unacceptable".
Molly Levinson, a spokesman for the players, said: "While it is gratifying that there has been such a deafening outcry against USSF's blatant misogyny, the sexist culture and policies overseen by Carlos Cordeiro have been approved for years by the board of directors of USSF. This institution must change and support and pay women players equally."
US women's star Megan Rapinoe and Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber also ripped US Soccer for its language use.
"We have sort of felt that those are some of the undercurrent feelings that they've had for a long time," Rapinoe told ESPN after the win over Japan.
"But to see that as the argument, as blatant misogyny and sexism as the argument against us, is really disappointing."
Garber found it astonishing.
"When I saw the media reports of US Soccer's recent filing, I was shocked and angry," he said on Thursday.
"I expressed to (Cordeiro) in no uncertain terms how unacceptable and offensive I found the statements in that filing to be.
"Those statements do not reflect my personal view, nor do they reflect the views of the Major League Soccer."
US Soccer vice-president Cindy Parlow Cone will replace Cordeiro as president.
REUTERS, NYTIMES, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
