Players from the United States Women's National Team are hoping to revive their equal pay legal case ©Getty Images

Players from the United States' women's football team have filed a final brief to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in a bid to revive their equal pay case against the United States Soccer Federation (USSF).

In 2020, a United States District Court for the Central District of California judge dismissed players' claims that they were underpaid in comparison with the men's national team.

The team filed their opening brief in the appeal five months ago, saying the decision to dismiss the case was based on flawed legal reasoning.

"The district court held that the women have no claim because they received more total compensation than the men," the plaintiffs said, as reported by Reuters.

"That is flatly wrong.

"Total compensation is not the standard under the Equal Pay Act or Title VII.

"The Equal Pay Act says to compare rates of pay, not total compensation."

The equal pay case was dismissed by a judge from the United States District Court for the Central District of California in 2020 ©Getty Images
The equal pay case was dismissed by a judge from the United States District Court for the Central District of California in 2020 ©Getty Images

USSF claims that it has offered identical contract proposals to the men's and women's player associations, a move that the United States Women's National Team Players Association said amounted to little more than a publicity stunt.

The governing body reached a deal with the women's team yesterday to extend a no-strike and no-lockout agreement to March 31 2022, while continuing collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations.

Under the agreement, USSF said it would no longer pay salaries of national team members to play in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).

"We’re scheduled to meet with the USWNT today to continue economic discussions around the identical offers that we presented to both the USWNT and USMNT on September 14," USSF said, as reported by Reuters.

"We continue to wait on the USMNT Players Association to do the same and hope to soon work directly with USMNT players to get a deal done."

The filing is the latest in the legal saga which dates back to 2019, with the players claiming $66 million (£49.8 million/€58.3 million) in damages under the Equal Pay Act.