In evil America, the USMNT and the USWNT make about the same amount of money. Technically, in the previous two World Cup cycles, the Women made MORE than the Men. If you want to see the full details of the pay scale between the genders, US Soccer is very transparent: Equal Pay and the U.S. Soccer Federation.
So imagine my surprise when I went to CNN this morning and came across this article: Decolonizing Football Will Take More than Better Representation. Aziz's angle?
"Since men were responsible for colonizing, I guess it’s only right that women are showing how to decolonize football at their World Cup. To do this for real, it’s going to take a lot of heavy lifting: work, resources and money."
Countries like Norway and Sweden treat women as equals on, and off, of the soccer field. Many countries in the Middle East and in Africa don't even let girls go to school, let alone play sports. Let alone run around in a t-shirt and shorts. Shaista Aziz is barking up the wrong tree when she blames colonialism for the inequities in women's soccer.
I would argue that the greatest men's national team in the history of soccer is Brazil. What does Brazil have to do with colonialism? Absolutely nothing. Why is the women's game different? Because Western Countries actually fund the women's game.
Aziz continues "However, for the legacy of this World Cup to be about more than representation, we need those who run the multi-billion dollar football industry, many of them White men of privilege, to make way, to share resources and space with community groups and activists who are working to tackle racial and gender inequality and make football truly equitable for all women and girls on our own terms."
Treating women equally is now an example of White Privilege? According to Aziz and CNN it is.
If I remember correctly, Qatar didn't even allow women spectators (from Qatar) at the last Men's World Cup. That had nothing to do with colonialism, that had to do with Qatar. Aziz needs to challenge Muslim governments in the Middle East and Africa to fund the women's teams equally to the men.
In this World Cup, Vietnam didn't "catch up" with the USA, despite only losing 3-0. Vietnam didn't even get a shot on goal (they were outshot 28-0). The USA had terrible aim.
You are arguing that I'm anti-Muslim? Far from it. I am saying that religion has nothing to do with your soccer uniform. Let me give you an example. In America, Amish girls love sports, but their religion prohibits them from playing in anything besides a long, drab dress. Let's pretend the top women's soccer playing prospect in America demanded her team wear Amish dresses.
Guess what? The USWNT isn't changing their uniform for any religion.
Now I might listen to Aziz's religious argument if the MEN were wearing hijabs. But of course its back to that nasty little fact of a double standard between the sexes. Since Aziz can't criticize her husband, or her religion, or any man in general, or risk being stoned to death by her own loved ones, she takes her frustrations out on the West. The entity her husband allows her to criticize. That's not me being sexist, that is her religion that she is coincidentally trying to impose on soccer.
CNN printed an article from a Muslim woman that they would NEVER print from a Christian woman. I challenge Aziz to read her own article, in a public space, in Saudi Arabia. A woman demanding equal treatment as men by the Saudi Government. Try that speech in Iran.
And what about Megan Rapinoe? What would happen if her coach told her she had to wear a hajib for an away game in Iraq. Does Aziz support the same LGBT+ causes as women's teams in America, Australia, or the Netherlands support?
Aziz wants equal opportunities for dark skinned peoples? There are no white people holding down the Nigerian Team. In 2019, the Nigerian Soccer Federation didn't even pay their own women's team.
When I was 13 years old, I was on a terrible soccer team called the Brunswick Express. Our uniforms were blue and red with collars and long sleeves. Not only were the uniforms ugly, but worst of all, they were polyester.
I distinctly remember one game, with the temperatures in the 80's, we were down 11-0. Kids weren't asking to be put in, they were begging to be taken out. Teenagers pulling off their shirts as soon as they got to the sidelines. It didn't long for the coaches to start yelling at us that we weren't losing because of the uniforms.
The other team, in grey t-shirts, kept asking us if our team was hot.
And laughing.
There is no woman alive that would rather play soccer in a hijab. A man brainwashed them into thinking that.
Soccer is equal around the world. A uniform of t-shirt and shorts. I don't go into a Mosque and kick my soccer ball around. Muslim women should be allowed to wear the uniform of her female soccer playing peers.
Shaista Aziz isn't advocating for women, she is advocating for her religion. If Aziz really advocated for women her motto would be:
Equal Funding from National Federations.
T-shirt and shorts for all women.
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