MEgan Rapinoe is back in attack mode right after the legal setback. “We will never stop fighting for equal rights,” the American Women’s Team leader wrote on Twitter. Women soccer players don’t want to let the equal pay lawsuit fail because their male colleagues sit on them so easily.

“We are shocked and disappointed by today’s decision, but we will not give up on our difficult battle for equal pay,” said team spokeswoman Molly Levinson. The women’s national team, led by world footballer Rapinoe, is legally demanding the payment of $ 66 million under the Equal Pay Act and the Civil Rights Act in order to join the men’s national team financially.

But Judge Gary Klausner of the US District Court for Central California dismissed the women’s wage discrimination allegations against the USSF in a 32-page ruling on Friday. As part of the ruling, the court indicated that there was evidence that the players had rejected an offer made by the association for the same wage as the men.

Instead, the 2019 world champions would have requested higher premiums, an increase in base salary, and an increase in the number of contract players. In retrospect, she said, American players could not complain about pay discrimination on the part of the Soviet Union.

The legal dispute was preceded by several unsuccessful rounds of negotiations between the Soviet Union and the players, and an escalation of the dispute in court. Even the association’s president, Carlos Cordero, had to take off his hat after sexist remarks. In the legal dispute, the 64-year-old justified the difference in pay by the fact that a job for a player from the men’s national team required a higher level of skill than a player from the women’s team.