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Posted: 2019-07-30T11:16:45Z | Updated: 2019-07-30T12:36:34Z

U.S. Soccer claims that players on the U.S. Womens National Team are paid more than their male counterparts.

But a spokeswoman for the World Cup champion women immediately skewered the claim as utterly false and a ruse.

In a letter and fact sheet released Monday amid the womens equal pay lawsuit, U.S. Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro detailed how the federation has compensated the U.S. womens team in recent years. Cordeiro said U.S. soccer had paid $34.1 million in salary and game bonuses to the womens team from 2010 through 2018, compared with $26.4 million to the men.

Those figures, Cordeiro noted, did not include benefits that only the women received, including health care and a retirement plan; nor did the total include the unprecedented investments made by U.S. Soccer in the womens program as a whole.

Cordeiros letter was released ahead of a scheduled mediation between the federation and the womens team over a gender discrimination lawsuit filed by the womens team earlier this year.

In the weeks ahead, well focus on preparing for mediation and resolving this matter in the best interests of the [womens national team] and U.S. Soccer, Cordeiro wrote. I want you to know that U.S. Soccer is committed to doing right by our players, and Ive been encouraged by the public comments from players expressing their desire for a cooperative approach. I remain optimistic that we can find common ground.

My letter and fact sheet to our soccer community about the @USWNT lawsuit. Were committed to doing right by our womens players, and Im optimistic we can get this done. https://t.co/5bzV4KRFdm (1/2) pic.twitter.com/GYYnPH1Z7c

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My letter and fact sheet to our soccer community about the @USWNT lawsuit. Were committed to doing right by our womens players, and Im optimistic we can get this done. https://t.co/5bzV4KRFdm (1/2) pic.twitter.com/GYYnPH1Z7c

Carlos Cordeiro (@CACSoccer) July 29, 2019

And the fact sheet... (2/2) pic.twitter.com/XFofHS90f1

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And the fact sheet... (2/2) pic.twitter.com/XFofHS90f1

Carlos Cordeiro (@CACSoccer) July 29, 2019

In a blistering statement, Molly Levinson, a spokeswoman for the womens team, slammed Cordeiros letter as a sad attempt to undermine the overwhelming tide of support the players have received from fans , sponsors and U.S. lawmakers .

U.S. Soccer has repeatedly admitted that it does not pay the women equally and that it does not believe the women even deserve to be paid equally, Levinson said, according to ESPN . This is why they use words like fair and equitable, not equal in describing pay.

As The Associated Press noted , its difficult to compare the compensation of the U.S. womens team with the U.S. mens team because they operate under separate collective bargaining agreements and with different pay structures.

The players on the womens team, for instance, have a base salary, while the men are paid based on game appearances and performance bonuses.

Neither the collective bargaining agreements nor the mens bonus structure have been made public, AP said.

Because of these differences, Levinson contended the fact sheet Cordeiro disseminated was misleading.

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[The] fact sheet is not a clarification. It is a ruse, Levinson said. Here is what they cannot deny: For every game a man plays ... he makes a higher base salary payment than a woman on the [womens national team]. For every comparable win or tie, his bonus is higher. That is the very definition of gender discrimination.

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