Republic of Ireland’s 2022 FIFA World Cup opponents, Canada, have agreed to return back to training and call off their strike because of threats of legal action by Canada Soccer.
The Canadian women’s team announced on Friday that they would go on strike over pay equity concerns and "significant cuts" to their program by Canada Soccer. However, after a lengthy meeting on Saturday, Canada Soccer revealed that the proposed action to strike would be unlawful and they would take legal action against if players did not agree to play in the She Believes cup this month.
Canada’s captain Christine Sinclair, wrote on Twitter, ‘We are being forced back to work for the short term. This is not over. We will continue to fight for everything we deserve, and we will win. The She Believes is being played in protest.’
To be clear. We are being forced back to work for the short term. This is not over. We will continue to fight for everything we deserve and we will win. The She Believes is being played in protest. https://t.co/1CmXU3CiYp
— Christine Sinclair (@sincy12) February 12, 2023
On Friday, in a statement posted to social media, the CSPA, the Canadian players' association, wrote it was "both outraged and deeply concerned" with the lack of support, which comes just months before the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Hmmmmmmm pic.twitter.com/hIgyRuuWfz
— Christine Sinclair (@sincy12) February 10, 2023
The players said their preparation for that tournament, which begins in July, was being "compromised"; and that they felt "frustrated" and "deeply disrespected."
Canada, who are the current Olympic champions and ranked number 6 in the world, are demanding a budget with what the men's team got last year. It has been reported that squad only has 20 players in their current training camp, which isn't enough for them to do 11-on-11 practices. The team had 28 players in their final camp before the Tokyo Summer Olympics.
Instead, the players said, "We've had to cut not only training camp days but full camp windows, cut the number of players and staff invited into camps, significantly limit the already limited youth teams' activities, all while we continue to face immense uncertainty about compensation.
"We have been told that there will be no home game for our team before the World Cup. We have been told, quite literally, that Canada Soccer cannot adequately fund the women's national team, and they have waited to tell us this until now, when we are less than six months from the World Cup."
The time is now, we are taking job action. pic.twitter.com/QbVbhTcdDU
— CanadianSoccerPlayers (@PlayersCanadian) February 10, 2023
The players, many of whom won gold at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, concluded by saying they "are committed to do whatever it takes to create public awareness of this crisis and to force Canada Soccer to start to support the national teams properly."
Soon after the women released their statement, Canadian men's players — who refused to train last year amid a contract dispute with Canada Soccer in their own World Cup year — also posted a statement to social media. They said they are "deeply disappointed" by Canada Soccer's actions and "wholeheartedly support" the women.
Pay equity disparity in a nutshell:
All MNT players are booked to fly biz class for upcoming Concacaf Nations League.
WNT player Janine Beckie flew Manchester to Vancouver for a Team Canada game vs Nigeria last April and paid $1,200 out of pocket to upgrade from premium economy.— Rick Westhead (@rwesthead) February 11, 2023
