A judge has granted class action status to the members of the U.S. women’s national soccer team (USNWT) who sued the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) over alleged gender discrimination, according to multiple reports.

The decision in California comes just two months after the group filed a class certification motion seeking to include any woman who had trained or played with the national team over a multi-year period in the lawsuit. The suit was originally filed by 28 plaintiffs on International Women's Day in March.

The women accused the organization of “institutionalized gender discrimination” including inequity in pay, practice time, practice locations, medical treatment, coaching and travel.

ADVERTISEMENT

"This is a historic step forward in the struggle to achieve equal pay," Molly Levinson, a spokeswoman for the group, said in a statement, Reuters reported.

“We are so pleased that the Court has recognized USSF’s ongoing discrimination against women players - rejecting USSF’s tired arguments that women must work twice as hard and accept lesser working conditions to get paid the same as men.”

U.S. Soccer has not issued a public comment on the matter.

The U.S. Soccer Federation has pushed back against the women's team's claims, arguing that the men and women are paid differently because of the distinctions in their collective bargaining agreements. The body has also claimed that many of the USNWT players have made more money than the highest-paid player on the U.S. Men's National Team (USMNT) between 2014 and 2019.

The judge's ruling effectively dismissed the federation's stance that no discrimination could have occurred because many players earned more than men over a five-year period.

“Defendant cites no case law to support this premise,” judge R. Gary Klausner wrote in his ruling, The New York Times reported. He also concluded that the current pay structure could give rise to an “absurd result" in which a woman could compensated less than a man so long as she balanced out the pay disparity by working twice as much.

The judge's ruling did not make any conclusions on the basis of the group's claims against the U.S. Soccer Federation, however. The Times noted, however, that the decision could lead the players and U.S. Soccer to look for a resolution to the lawsuit outside of court.

Many players on the U.S. women's soccer team have been outspoken about their efforts to be paid as much as the U.S. men's team. The issue gained especially high attention this summer as the women's team marched to its second consecutive World Cup title and record-breaking fourth championship overall.

Following their victory in the championship match, chants of "equal pay" reverberated from the bleachers of the Stade de Lyon in France. Several lawmakers have backed the U.S. women's efforts.