American former professional boxer Laila Ali has criticised the gender pay gap in sport, revealing that she has “never” made the same money as the men in her field.
Ali, who is the daughter of the late boxing champion Muhammed Ali, was speaking about gender discrimination at the 2019 ESPY Awards.
The former athlete’s comments came the same day the US Women’s football team celebrated their World Cup victory by using their gender discrimination lawsuit as confetti during celebration parade in New York City.
“Even during my boxing career, being one of the most famous names in the world, filling up the audience, I never made what the men make,” Ali, who competed professionally from 1999 to 2007, told Access.
“I didn’t make hardly any money in boxing. I made more of my money outside of boxing.”
However, unlike the US women’s football team – who filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against the governing body US Soccer Federation over equal pay earlier this year – Ali admitted that she didn’t fight for financial parity during her career.
“I never really fought at the time for that, because I also understood that women’s boxing is a little different: it doesn’t bring in the audience that males’ does,” Ali explained.
“But women’s soccer is there! They’re winning championships! They’re doing their thing. There’s no reason for it not to. There’s no excuse.”
The 41-year-old continued, stating that she thinks it’s “great” that women are “making it easier for the women coming behind them”.
Ali went onto praise the US team for their tenacity and strength.
“They are so fabulous. They are champions. They are doing their thing, and they’re not afraid to let it be known,” she said.
“I think that they should soak up the moment for themselves, the championship, without feeling the burden too much of giving back – but it’s hard not to when you get that platform,” she added.
“I think it’s time for women right now. The more women see women taking a stand, it inspires them to do that themselves.”
In March, the US women’s national team filed a lawsuit against US Soccer, accusing the organisation of “institutionalised gender discrimination” over equal pay.
All 28 members of the team filed class action lawsuits, which also alleges discrimination over training facilities, coaching, medical treatment and travel conditions, according to the New York Times.
The lawsuit , which is ongoing, shares many similarities with a wage-discrimination complaint filed by five US players in 2016.
