Canada women's soccer accuses governing body of 'disrespecting them' over pay

2023-03-10 12:37

Canada women's soccer accuses governing body of 'disrespecting them' over pay


Members of Canada's women's national soccer team say they feel disrespected after its governing body released details of its proposed collective bargaining agreement (CBA) on Thursday , in which privately negotiated details were made public without notice.


The Olympic champion launched a protest last month over pay equity and budget cuts, saying the Canadian Soccer Association has cut training camp days, the full training camp window and the number of players and staff invited to camp, among other issues. The two sides agreed last week to a tentative agreement on funding.

Hours before players are due to appear before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage on Thursday, Soccer Canada provided details of a proposed CBA that would see men and women pay the same for 90 minutes and share game prize money. equal.

The governing body added that negotiations depend on the pooling of FIFA World Cup prize money and will require cooperation between the men's and women's teams and the Canadian Soccer Federation.

" We have been negotiating in good faith and hope to reach a resolution with our national team, " Canadian Football Federation general secretary Earl Cochrane said in a statement.

" In order to achieve this, we need an agreement between the two national teams. Our women deserve equal pay and they deserve financial security for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. "

Canada women's soccer accuses governing body of 'disrespecting them' over pay

unfair treatment

The governing body also said it had agreed or was in the process of addressing a request made by the women's national team last month, with the World Cup less than 140 days away.

These include a " comparable " budget for the preparations for the women's World Cup , as well as the revenue earned by the men's teams at the tournament last year, and an agreement to share future budgets between the men's and women's teams.

Speaking to members of the Canadian Parliament on Thursday, Canadian national team member Jenny Becky said: " We feel very disrespected by the way they conducted their business this afternoon.

" We believe that what is being talked about in good faith negotiations between our Players Association and the Canadian Football Federation should remain between the Players Association and the Canadian Football Federation.

" There were some terms and numbers and bits and pieces in their statement today that didn't even get through to us. So it came as a bit of a shock to us. "

Canadian football has been promising the past few years, with the women's team leaving Tokyo with Olympic gold in 2021 and their men's team reaching their first World Cup final in 36 years last year.

But the players' comments on Thursday exposed a painful rift between them and the governing body, as Christine Sinclair said she and her compatriot were " forced to negotiate in the dark " .

" The success of the national team has inspired the whole country and the future should be brighter than ever, " Sinclair said.

" However, with the popularity, interest and growth of women's sport sweeping the globe, our toughest battle is with our own federation. "