The World Cup may have to go on without one of the world’s top teams. The Canada women’s national team (CanWNT), ranked sixth in the world, announced a player strike on Friday evening. The players cite issues such as equal pay, budget cuts, and lack of support from Canada Soccer as reasons for the strike.
The receipts
CanWNT player Allysha Chapman posted Canada Soccer’s statement of operations for 2020 and 2021 on Twitter. The statement showed that the men’s team received more funding than the women’s team in both years, despite the constant success of the women’s team. In 2021, the men received over $11 million, whereas the women received just over $5 million. In 2020, Canada Soccer’s administration and meeting budget was higher than the budget awarded to the men’s team.
Discrepancies? 🧐 pic.twitter.com/XKWhP0EHRU
— Allysha Chapman (@allyshachapman) February 10, 2023
The players’ statement
The CanWNT players released a statement on Twitter on Friday afternoon. The statement states that national team programs will receive “significant cuts” this year, which puts their ability to perform well at the World Cup at risk. The budget cuts have forced the team to cut down on training camps, as well as the players and staff invited to camps. Canada Soccer also informed the team that they will not play a home game before going to the World Cup. Players are frustrated and feel “deeply disrespected” by Canada Soccer.
The time is now, we are taking job action. pic.twitter.com/QbVbhTcdDU— CanadianSoccerPlayers (@PlayersCanadian) February 10, 2023
The player strike
Team captains Christine Sinclair and Janine Beckie announced the player strike in an interview with TSN. The players have demanded to play one game in Canada before the World Cup and the same budget as the men’s team. The team is currently in Orlando for the SheBelieves Cup, but they may not play if their demands aren’t met.
“Until this is resolved, I can’t represent this federation..” #CanWNT
— TSN Soccer (@TSNSoccer) February 11, 2023
Watch @rwesthead full interview with @sincy12 & @janinebeckie as they announce the Canadian Women’s National Team is going on strike: https://t.co/vRK7GkOnVD pic.twitter.com/uhkyFbafAu
Canada Soccer’s response to the strike
Canada Soccer released a statement on Friday evening. In the statement, Canada Soccer claims that equal pay is “at the core of [their] ongoing player negotiations.” They will also be meeting with the players in Orlando on Saturday morning.
Canada Soccer Statement. pic.twitter.com/FfKf2So3PW
— Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) February 11, 2023
The CanWNT created a name for themselves by winning the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The budget cuts could severely impact the quality of the CanWNT’s game by limiting their time together and cutting down the pool of players to pull from. The upcoming World Cup is arguably the biggest tournament in team history due to recent success and publicity, so it is telling that the players are willing to strike just six months before the tournament.
Do you think the CanWNT and Canada Soccer can find common ground before the SheBelieves Cup? Let me know in the comments below. Follow me on Twitter and check out Beyond Women’s Sports for more women’s sports coverage. Want to start watching the NWSL and WSL? You can do that here.
