Megan Rapinoe furious over two men's finals being held on same day as Women's World Cup final: 'Ridiculous and disappointing'
The United States women's soccer team's midfielder Megan Rapinoe is reportedly furious that two men's matches have been scheduled the same day as the Women's World Cup final, which is set to be held in France.
Reports state that just hours after the US and the Netherlands meet in the Women’s World Cup final in France on Sunday, July 7, Brazil and Peru are set to play for the Copa America, South America’s men’s championship final. The same night, the US and Mexico are set to play for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the men’s title of North and Central America and the Caribbean.
"It’s ridiculous, and disappointing, to be honest," Rapinoe said. "I don’t really understand why there’s such a resistance against going all-in on women. I think it’s pretty clear women in sport have not been treated with the same care and financing and all of that that men’s sports have," the New York Post reported.
FIFA, however, said that the teams playing the three finals on the same day would boost attention for all.
“The scheduling of the different events has gone through a comprehensive consultancy process, which has involved all key stakeholders and taken into account different aspects of the women’s and men’s international match calendars,” the governing body said in a statement. “It is a rare and exciting occurrence.”
While former American midfielder Aly Wagner said: "It’s terrible. It is so disturbing to me that the Women’s World Cup does not have its own day to stand on its own and have a final to highlight these tremendous athletes and their work and their accomplishment. They wouldn’t dream of doing it to the men. Why would they do it to the women?"
CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani, however, told The New York Times that the decision to schedule the Gold Cup final for Sunday was not deliberate and was because of a "clerical error."
The Women’s World Cup final is set to start at 11 am EDT on Fox, followed by the Copa America final at 4 p.m. EDT on ESPN+ and the CONCACAF final at 9:15 p.m. EDT on FS1.