The US women's national team has again hit out at gender discrimination by US Soccer (USSF) and accused the federation of "distorting figures" in court documents filed on Monday.
Twenty-eight players, including stars Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe, were part of the original suit filed against the federation in March alleging institutionalised gender discrimination that includes inequitable compensation between the men's and women's teams.
US Soccer has opposed the players' request to certify a lawsuit seeking equitable pay as a class-action, insisting that compensation for each team is the result of separate collective bargaining agreements, and that the pay structures are different as a result.
They added that star players Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Carli Lloyd and Becky Sauerbrunn — were each paid more than the highest-paid player on the men's national team in four years over the period between 2014 and 2019.
The women's filing on Monday has criticised the federation’s stance, insisting the quartet were paid less than one-third of what a male counterpart would have made if the men's team had been as successful over the same period.
The four members are said to have lost as much as $11.5m in suffered damages.
"This is the very definition of gender discrimination, which is illegal," said Molly Levinson, who is representing the players in the lawsuit.
"USSF has repeatedly tried to distort these figures — including by hiring lobbyists, creating PowerPoint presentations with false data, trying to blame FIFA, and purposely manipulating the equation. But the math is simple: when the rates from the men's CBA are applied to each woman player's record and performance, the results show an unmistakably large pay gap."
The players asked a court last month to include all players called up to the national team, which could increase the class to more than 50 players.
The US Women's team has won the last two World Cups, while their male counterparts failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, missing the tournament for the first time since 1986.
