Canada women's football team call off strike after legal threat

Players ‘taking job action’ over equity and budget concerns

OTTAWA:

The Canada women's football team called off their strike to protest against inequality and lack of funding on Saturday, saying in a statement that the national federation had threatened legal action.

The strike had been launched on Friday, with players aiming to press for changes with less than six months to the start of the World Cup.

But on Saturday night the players' association issued a statement saying training would resume for Canada's SheBelieves Cup match against the United States on Thursday and they would continue with preparations for the World Cup.

"Canada Soccer has told us they consider our job action to be an unlawful strike," the union said in a statement.

"They told us that if we did not return to work -- and did not commit today to playing in Thursday's game against the United States -- they would not only take legal action to force us back to the pitch but would consider taking steps to collect what could be millions of dollars in damages from our players association and from each of the individual players currently in camp."

The players said that after not receiving compensation "for any of our work for Soccer Canada in 2022" they could not afford to take the risk of being liable for damages.

However, the players reiterated that they believe cuts to the budget with the World Cup looming remain "unacceptable."

According to team captain Christine Sinclair, in 2021, the federation allocated more than CAN$11 million (US$8.22 million, 7.68 million euros) to the men's team, compared to about CAN$5 million (US$3.73, 3.5 million euros) for the women's team, while the previous year the federation spent just over $3 million for the men and $2.8 million for the women.

Canada's men's players, coming off an appearance in the World Cup in Qatar last year, said they "wholeheartedly support" the women players in their efforts.

In announcing the strike, in which they planned to decline to train or play international matches, the players said inadequate funding harmed their ability to prepare for the World Cup, which will be held in Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to August 20.

Canada's women are eighth in the FIFA rankings and in 2021 they won gold at the Tokyo Olympics.

In announcing an end to the strike, the players noted they had met for several hours Saturday with Soccer Canada officials to discuss their concerns.

The federation insisted in a statement that pay equity for the women's team was the core of negotiations with the players association, adding that "mutually agreed" retroactive payments had already been issued after months of negotiations.

But players said the situation remains murky.

"The way Canada Soccer allocates or uses funds is unclear and full of secrets," the players said in a statement.

The issue of pay equity in football became a huge topic in 2019 when the US women's team filed a lawsuit against their federation for discrimination.

The US Soccer Federation offered pay parity with the men's team in 2021.