For the last several months, it seemed extremely likely that the U.S. women’s national team’s gender-discrimination lawsuit against U.S. Soccer would be settled out of court before both sides ended up in a courtroom on May 5. But recent actions by U.S. Soccer—including president Carlos Cordeiro’s letter released on Saturday and the strategy by USSF lawyers to argue that women’s players have less responsibility and are scientifically worse than men’s players—has decreased the chances of a settlement and increased the possibility that the case will go to court after all.
When asked about the chances of a settlement on Sunday, U.