‘Demanding immediate action’ – Canada women to strike for pay equality and funding ahead of USA clash

Canada’s women’s football team will go on strike in their pursuit of pay equality and improved funding for their sport.

The players issued a group statement on Friday as they hit out at the “continued inability to support its national teams” by Canada Soccer.

Captain Christine Sinclair told Canadian broadcaster TSN: “As a team we have decided to take job action.

“From this moment on we will not be participating in any [Canada Soccer] activities until this is resolved – whether that’s training, whether that’s games.

“That’s very hard to say as an athlete who wants to compete and represent Canada, but enough is enough.”

Canada are due to play the USA in the SheBelieves Cup on February 2017, are ranked sixth in the world, and won the 2021 Olympic gold.

A statement from the Canadian Soccer Players’ Association (CSPA) read: “We are demanding immediate change.

“We expect and deserve nothing less than to be treated equally and fairly and to have our program – and our World Cup preparations – funded appropriately.

“We are left feeling frustrated and, once again, deeply disrespected by Canada Soccer.”

Forward Janine Beckie added: “This is the men and women’s team together taking action against a federation which has mistreated us for far too long, and we have been far too nice for far too long.

“At this point we will not be training, we will not be attending meetings. Any scheduled activity with the national team in the near future, we will not take part in.”

The joint-player statement continued: “We are tired of constantly having to fight for fair and equal treatment, and for a program that will give us a chance to achieve what we know this team is capable of achieving for Canada.

“This lack of support threatens to reverse the progress we’ve made as a soccer nation and to send us back to obscurity.

“The national teams cannot afford to be the only ones fighting for our success any longer. Enough was enough a long time ago.”

Canada’s men’s team said they “wholeheartedly support” their colleagues’ course of action, and in 2022 they were engaged in a dispute over the award of prize money from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

“We are at a pivotal moment in time for soccer in Canada,” the men’s team stated.

“This is a once-in-a-generation, perhaps once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to grow the sport in Canada, and the current leadership of Canada Soccer is putting that opportunity at risk.”