Canada Women’s Soccer Labor Fight Clouds World Cup Prep
The eighth edition of the SheBelieves Cup, a week-long invitational tournament hosted by the U.S. each year, kicks off Thursday with clashes between a quartet of women’s soccer powerhouses in Canada, the U.S., Japan and Brazil. But the start has been overshadowed by a familiar issue in women’s soccer: the fight for equal pay.
The Canadian women’s national team, which faces the U.S. in its opening match in an important tune-up for the World Cup, is playing the tournament under protest over funding cuts by the Canadian Soccer Association (also known as Canada Soccer).
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The Canadian women—who won the Olympic gold medal in Tokyo in 2021—slammed the federation for slashing their team’s budget as they prepare for this summer’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. While the cuts also affect the men’s team and the country’s youth soccer programs, they come after men’s national team received significant financial support ahead of last year’s World Cup, its first appearance in the tournament in 36 years.
“All we’re asking for is to be given equal opportunity to our men’s team to get ready for our World Cup,” national team player Janine Beckie said this week when speaking with reporters.
The time is now, we are taking job action. pic.twitter.com/QbVbhTcdDU
— CanadianSoccerPlayers (@PlayersCanadian) February 10, 2023
Players say they have reached a “crisis point” with Canada Soccer after the cuts and more than a year of collective bargaining negotiations. The women’s team’s CBA expired in December 2021, and while Canada Soccer says it remains “committed to negotiating a comprehensive collective agreement with both of the player associations of the women’s and men’s national teams … that will deliver real change and pay equity in Canada Soccer,” a deal has still not been struck.
After Canada Soccer announced cuts to the budget, the women’s team said in a statement last Friday that it was prepared to go on strike and refuse to play in the SheBelieves Cup. Canada Soccer swiftly responded to what it deemed an “unlawful strike” with threats of legal action that included efforts “to collect what could be millions of dollars in damages” from the union and individual players, according to the Canadian Soccer Players Association.
Canadian labor law requires employees and their unions to essentially submit a formal request to strike, which the players reportedly submitted on Feb. 7. A 17-day countdown follows the formal filings, which means the women are required to play in the SheBelieves Cup. If there is no resolution, the team is prepared to strike in April when their next games are scheduled.
“To be clear, we are being forced back to work for the short term,” captain Christine Sinclair tweeted. “We will continue to fight … and we will win.”
The fight is familiar for the U.S. women’s national team, whose six-year legal battle with U.S. Soccer was resolved with 2022’s equal-pay agreement. In Canada’s case, the players—who have led their country to podium appearances in the last three Olympic games and the final in the last two CONCACAF Women’s Championships—say they aren’t in a financial position to take on any legal fight as they haven’t been paid for 2022’s appearances yet.
Pay inequity is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the men’s and women’s teams’ qualms with Canada Soccer. There is tension over the lack of transparency around the federation’s governance and operations, which have come to a head with the budget cuts coming just as both teams are at the peak of their popularity.
Canada Soccer has been unable to capitalize financially on the recent success of its teams due to its relationship with Canadian Soccer Business (CSB), a private company established in 2018 by the owners of the eight men’s Canadian Premier League teams to manage the federation’s commercial and media rights.
In turn, CSB pays the federation a fixed fee of as much as $3.5 million per year, per the terms of their 2019 agreement, which runs through 2027. Those rights could presumably command significantly more in the market today, but that money remains out of reach for Canada Soccer in the current arrangement.
“The widely reported deal between Canada Soccer and [CSB] ensures that the national programs do not benefit from the increased investment in the sport,” several women’s players wrote on Instagram in a post.
In a statement issued this week, CSB said it has offered to “provide incremental resources to Canada Soccer to help further its mission” and specifically support the women’s team ahead of this summer’s World Cup. The funding could solve some of the team’s short-term cash flow issues but doesn’t address the longer-term relationship.
“The women’s national team deserves the resources it needs to be successful in the lead up to the Women’s World Cup and beyond,” CSB’s statement concluded. “We are ready, willing and able to partner with all stakeholders to play our part to make that happen.”
