US Women's soccer suffers defeat in court over 'equal pay' lawsuit

U.S. Women's soccer players suffered a legal defeat when a judge ruled that they were not being unfairly paid in comparison to their male counterparts.

The ruling was handed down by Judge R. Gary Klausner of the United States District Court for the Central District of California on Friday.

Critics have claimed that female soccer players aren't payed as well as their male counterparts, but Klausner disagreed.

"The WNT (Women's National Team) has been paid more on both a cumulative and an average per-game basis than the MNT (Men's National Team) over the class period," said the court according to a report from Reuters.

Klausner allowed for a separate claim to proceed by the female players arguing that they were receiving disparate compensation in the form of travel, training, housing and other proceeds.

The United States Soccer Federation showed that the female players were paid $8 million more in salaries and bonuses, despite the games of the male players grossing much more game revenue.

Molly Levinson, who represents the female players, said that they plan to appeal the decision.

"We are shocked and disappointed. We will not give up our hard work for equal pay," said Levinson.

"We are confident in our case and steadfast in our commitment to ensuring that girls and women who play this sport will not be valued as lesser just because of their gender," she added.

Here's more about the great soccer gender pay debate:

Here's Why Women Are Paid Less In Soccerwww.youtube.com