The Canadian women’s football team announced on Saturday February 11 that it would end its strike to denounce gender inequalities and the lack of funding, under the threat of legal action by the Federation, according to their press release.
Their strike lasted a day. This Sunday, the players resumed training for their match against the United States on Thursday in the SheBelieves Cup, then the World Cup this summer.
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“Canada Soccer told us that they considered our industrial action an illegal strike”they write, threatened if they continue by future “legal measures” for the “force to return to the field”associated with requests for “what could be millions of dollars in damages”.
Fighting for “fair and equitable treatment”
The women’s team has therefore given up its strike action, but recalls that it considers the “cuts” budgetary “unacceptable”.
Like their Danish counterparts six years ago, the Canadians lament having to fight for “fair and equitable treatment” and denounce a lack of consideration of the Federation in relation to the men’s team.
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According to their captain Christine Sinclair, the institution granted in 2021 more than 11 million Canadian dollars (more than 7 million euros) to the men’s team against around 5 million (around 3.5 million euros) to the women’s team. The previous year, the expenses were almost equivalent, around 3 million Canadian dollars (2 million euros) each, but always to the advantage of the men.
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“The way Canada Soccer allocates is full of secrets”
The male players, who played in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar last winter, said “support wholeheartedly” footballers in their approach. “How Canada Soccer allocates or uses funds is unclear and full of secrets”they wrote in a press release.
On Twitter, the Federation had affirmed its desire for fairness and underlined that “retroactive amounts” had already been paid to the players, “after months of negotiations”.
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In 2019, American footballers filed a complaint against their Federation for discrimination in a Los Angeles court.
The 9th edition of the Women’s World Cup will take place in Australia and New Zealand, from July 20 to August 20. In 2020, Canada’s women’s team was eighth in the FIFA rankings and in 2021 they won gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
