The governing body said it had taken the step "with the goal of aligning the men's and women's senior national teams under a single collective bargaining agreement (CBA) structure".

It has triggered another public dispute between US Soccer and the United States Women’s National Team Players Association (USWNTPA).

The USWNTPA has claimed the move is a "PR stunt" and does not "bring us any closer to a fair agreement".

"In contrast, we are committed to bargaining in good faith to achieve equal pay and the safest working conditions possible," the USWNTPA said on Twitter. 

"The proposal that USSF made recently to us does neither."

In response, US Soccer said the offer on paper of identical contracts, and to discuss equalising prize money, "is real, authentic and in good faith".

"A publicity stunt is a 90-minute one-sided movie," US Soccer Tweeted.

In an earlier statement, US Soccer said it "firmly believes that the best path forward for all involved, and for the future of the sport in the United States, is a single pay structure for both senior national teams," US Soccer said in a statement".

"This proposal will ensure that the US women's national team and US men's national team players remain among the highest-paid senior national team players in the world, while providing a revenue-sharing structure that would allow all parties to begin anew and share collectively in the opportunity that combined investment in the future of US Soccer will deliver over the course of a new CBA," US Soccer said.

US Soccer also said it would refuse to agree to a deal in which World Cup prize money is not made equal.

The US women earned $4 million (£2.9 million/€3.4 million) for winning their second straight World Cup in 2019, while France's men claimed $34 million (£24.6 million/€28.8 million) for lifting the trophy in 2018.

The total prize money for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has been increased to $440 million (£318 million/€372 million), over seven times more than the $60 million (£43.4 million/€50.7 million) figure FIFA has proposed for the 2023 Women's World Cup.

There has been a long-running row over equal pay in the sport in the US.

A federal judge last year dismissed a claim of unequal pay made by the women's team against US Soccer after ruling the squad were paid more on both a cumulative and an average per game basis than the men's side.

Although the equal pay claims were dismissed, judge Klausner allowed the Civil Rights Act claims to proceed to trial, with hearings set to take place later this year or early in 2022.