Mediation talks between the United States women’s soccer team and U.S. Soccer collapsed without a resolution on Wednesday afternoon, seriously damaging hopes that the sides could avoid a showdown in federal court over a gender discrimination lawsuit filed by the players earlier this year.

The sides had agreed to meet secretly for several days in New York this week, just over a month after the women’s team won its second straight World Cup championship. The mediation sessions were to be the most substantive face-to-face discussions between the team and the federation about equal pay and other workplace issues since they hammered out the details of the players’ current collective bargaining agreement in April 2017.

But in emerging with no resolution, and fiery statements from each side, the players and the federation signaled they remain far apart.

“We entered this week’s mediation with representatives of U.S.S.F. full of hope,” Molly Levinson, a spokeswoman for the players, said in a statement. “Today we must conclude these meetings sorely disappointed in the federation’s determination to perpetuate fundamentally discriminatory workplace conditions and behavior. It is clear that U.S.S.F., including its board of directors and President Carlos Cordeiro, fully intend to continue to compensate women players less than men. They will not succeed.”