Los Angeles (AFP)

They're not used to losing to football, but the players of the United States team, double defending world champions, felt the bitter taste of defeat in their quest for equal pay with the team on Friday. masculine.

Their request was dismissed Friday, in a summary judgment, by judge Gary Klausner of the District court of the United States for central California in Los Angeles, which rejected the main argument of wage discrimination of the plaintiffs.

However, it postponed the complainants' complaints about unequal treatment in accommodation, travel and other areas to a later judgment. A trial is scheduled to begin on June 16.

Meanwhile, in terms of the main part of the case, it is a very heavy blow taken by the players of the national team, including the star of the team and feminist activist Megan Rapinoe, who fought for their cause for several years.

The latter reacted on Twitter, with a single sentence expressing their determination: "We will never stop fighting for EQUALITY".

Their spokesman Molly Levinson said in a statement that the American players "will appeal".

In his 32-page decision, the judge explained that the complainants refused, on an unspecified date, an agreement that would have allowed them to be paid fairly with the players of the national men's team.

- $ 66 million claimed -

"The history of negotiations between the parties shows that the women's team rejected a proposal to be paid on the same salary basis as the men's team, and that it gave up higher bonuses as advantages, among which higher basic remuneration and the guarantee of a larger number of players under contract ", he established.

"Consequently, the complainants cannot now retroactively consider that their collective agreement is worse than that of the men's team, by referring to the conditions of remuneration which they themselves have rejected," concluded the judge.

The players of the American team, which dominate world football, having won four of the eight Women's World Cups, the last two of which were in 2015 and 2019, were claiming $ 66 million in back wages under the law. equal remuneration and the Civil Rights Act.

They had established this amount based on the disparities between the bonuses distributed by Fifa during the Men's and Women's World Cups.

In 2014, the German world champions won $ 35 million for their coronation in Brazil, while the French won $ 38 million after triumphing in Russia in 2018.

- "Shocked and disappointed" -

The 2015 and 2019 world champions, for their part, raised a total of $ 6 million during the two tournaments, or 12 times less.

"We are shocked and disappointed with today's decision, but we will not give up our hard work for equal pay," said their spokesman.

"We have confidence in our record and are firm in our commitment to ensure that girls and women who practice this sport are not considered less important simply because of their gender," added Molly Levinson.

Initiated in March 2019, the legal action took a particularly acrimonious turn two months ago, when a file filed by lawyers of the federation made the argument that playing in the men's national team required a level higher skill, expressed in speed and strength, and assumed greater responsibility.

These words had aroused immediate and widespread indignation on the part of the players, including Megan Rapinoe who had accused her Federation of "blatant sexism" in the files of the complainants, leaders, sponsors such as Coca-Cola.

The president of the Federation Carlos Cordeiro had resigned. He was replaced by Vice-President Cindy Parlow Cone, a former international player who had immediately withdrawn the annoying argument, in order to calm the situation.

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