MontrealCanada – As the world’s top female soccer players prepare to compete in the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in three months’ time, Canada’s sixth-placed team has high expectations.
The side achieve a gold medal victory at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and are now aiming for World Cup glory under captain Christine Sinclair, the all-time leading goalscorer in international football for both men and women.
Yet the on-field successes of Sinclair and her teammates have taken a back seat to another off-field battle as they demand equal pay and more support from Canada Soccer, the body that governs soccer in the country.
“This is a turning point,” Carrie Serwetnyk, a former Canadian national team player and the first woman inducted into the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame, told Al Jazeera of the team’s very public struggle.
The issues raised by Canadian women’s team players in recent weeks — from a lack of funding for training, staffing and other resources in the run-up to the World Cup to disparities in pay and opportunity compared to the men’s national team — are not new, Serwetnyk said.
But what is, Serwetnyk said, is the players’ willingness to publicly demand a solution to problems that have been going on for decades. “I’ve just won the Olympics and qualified for the World Cup and that’s it funding was cut? That was it for them,” she said.
“Eventually they hit the brakes and said, ‘No, we’re not doing this anymore.'”
‘Outraged and deeply concerned’
The Canada women’s national team, which has not had a collective agreement since 2021, took their long-standing frustrations with Canada Soccer public on February 10.
In a statement from their union, the Canadian Soccer Players Association, the athletes said they were “outraged and deeply concerned” by news of significant budget cuts and warned that their World Cup preparations were being jeopardized.
With the tournament set to begin in July, the team said it was forced to reduce training camp windows and the number of players and staff invited while facing “huge uncertainty over compensation”.
The players said they did not enjoy the same support as the men’s national team, which qualified for its first World Cup in 36 years last year, and were told to “just make do with less”.
“We are tired – tired of having to constantly fight for fairness and equality, and for a program that gives us the opportunity to achieve what we know this team can achieve for Canada,” they wrote announcing a planned strike. .
Now is the time, we take action. pic.twitter.com/QbVbhTcdDU
— Canadian SoccerPlayers (@PlayersCanadian) February 10, 2023
Canada Soccer was quick to respond, saying on February 11 that the team’s strike action was not legal under Ontario labor law.
The governing body said it had held a meeting with the players’ union and “taken the necessary steps” to ensure they would play in the SheBelieves Cup in the United States later that month. “Canada Soccer is encouraged that the women’s national team players will play as it promised,” it said.
But the players said they were forced back onto the field under threat of legal action and millions of dollars in damages that their union and the players in camp could incur. “The She Believes is played in protest”, wrote Sinclair on Twitter.
That protest was voiced during the tournament with the Canadian players don purple wristbands to renew their call for equality.
They also wore purple warm-up shirts with the words “Enough is enough” ahead of a Feb. 16 game against the U.S. women’s national team, which has fought its own years-long battle against gender discrimination — winning equal pay settlements in 2022.
“While we are now on the other side of this fight and able to focus on our game on the field, our counterparts in Canada and elsewhere are experiencing the same pervasive misogyny and unequal treatment we faced,” the U.S. team said in a statement. rack before kick-off.
Also the Canadian men’s national team put his weight behind the women and demanded that Canada Soccer explain how it allocates money because the process was “shrouded in secrecy”. “This is a once-in-a-generation, maybe once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to grow the sport in Canada, and Soccer Canada’s current leadership is putting that opportunity on the line,” the men said.
Inspiring solidarity from @USWNTPlayers for their rivals on the field @PlayersCanadian and women’s players around the world.pic.twitter.com/mUOsN1SzYg
— FIFPRO (@FIFPRO) February 17, 2023
Demand for action
Helen Stoumbos, a Canadian national team member in the 1990s and co-founder of the Canada Women’s Soccer Alumni Association, said the federation needs a systemic change and that can only happen by first ensuring “accountability and transparency” in Canada Soccer.
Stoumbos said she and her teammates also faced issues like today’s, but fear of retaliation kept many from speaking out.
“I [knew that] if I spoke before, I’d be gone. We just shut up because [we] just want to play,” she told Al Jazeera, adding that the experience is taking a toll on players.
“It really detracts from your preparation,” said Stoumbos, who became the first Canadian football player – male or female – to score a World Cup goal. “You just want to concentrate on playing. The last thing you want is to worry about something else.”
She said while it was disappointing to see members of the team still fighting for equal opportunities 25 years later, the recent spate of public pressure on Canada Soccer has forced the governing body to act.
“They’ve been trying for years, I don’t know how many years, to get a contract,” she said. “And it took this kind of media attention and [public] attention for them to actually get started with something.”
In late February, Canadian football president Nick Bontis resigned after Canadian football federation leaders said they had lost confidence in his leadership. “I recognize that this moment requires change,” Bontis said in a statement.
Together 🤝#We can pic.twitter.com/WtZ1fdMxil
— WNT of CAN Soccer (@CANWNT) April 11, 2023
Days later, the governing body said an interim deal funding for 2022 had been agreed with the women’s team, and on March 9 it also revealed some details of a new collective bargaining agreement being negotiated with both the men’s and women’s national teams.
The agreement would include equal pay, equal funding for World Cup qualification and prize money sharing, it said. “It’s time to get a deal done,” Canada Soccer general secretary Earl Cochrane said in a statement. rack.
“We have negotiated in good faith and want to reach a solution with our national teams,” the statement said. “To get there, both our national teams have to agree. Our women deserve to be paid equally and they deserve the financial security going into the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.”
‘It helps girls dream’
But questions about alleged mismanagement and a lack of financial transparency at Canada Soccer remain unanswered.
Stoumbos said the success of both the women’s and men’s teams, coupled with the fact that Canada will co-host the 2026 Men’s World Cup, makes this an opportune time to make meaningful changes – although outside pressure will be of crucial importance.
“And hopefully they’ll continue to push the boundaries and make sure something actually happens after all is said and done,” she said.
Meanwhile, Serwetnyk – who also co-founded Equal Play, a nonprofit that champions girls in football – said the team’s campaign sends an important message, especially to young women and girls who are striving to reach their goals reach.
“Not every girl wants to play soccer, but she may have a dream to follow a different path, and seeing other women succeed helps girls dream bigger for themselves,” she told Al Jazeera.
“What’s great about what the women’s national team has done by striking is that they’re showing, ‘No, we’re going to fight for it.’ They are fighting for future generations and it is very important that they win, they have to win this battle.”