USA women's hockey team boycotting World Championships over fair wage dispute

The United States women's hockey team announced on Wednesday morning that they will not participate in the 2017 World Championships due to a dispute with USA Hockey over fair wages.

Negotiations between players and the American program have reportedly been ongoing for about a year, but have stalled recently. Barring any sudden and significant progress in those negotiations this month, the USA won't be represented at a tournament which they are hosting. (This year's Worlds is being played in Michigan.)

Members of the women's team tweeted out uniform statements on Wednesday announcing the boycott and calling for more support.

https://twitter.com/Hilary_Knight/status/842012615475888128

According to a piece from ESPN's Julie Foudy, the USA's women's national team players are only paid $6,000 every four years.

This is obviously a bad look for USA Hockey, but it's also a major development in the world of women's hockey. The United States has won gold at each of the last three World Championships and has been in the gold medal game every year since the tournament's inaugural competition in 1990.

The World Championships will get underway March 31 in Plymouth Township, Michigan.