Canadian women's soccer team resumes training under threat of legal action

2023-02-12 14:35

Canadian women's soccer team resumes training under threat of legal action


Canada's women's soccer team will resume training from Sunday and compete in next week's SheBelieves Cup as Canada's soccer governing body faces threats of legal action, they say.


Defending Olympic champion Canada will start on February 16 The SheBelieves Cup opener against the United States will also feature Brazil and Japan.

On Friday, captain Christina Sinclair said the team would be on strike immediately due to concerns about pay equity and budget cuts in Canadian Soccer.

But the team said Saturday that Soccer Canada considers their strike action an " illegal strike " and will take legal action if the players do not return to training and commit to Thursday's game against the United States

" While taking strike action, the players were and are not in a legal strike position under Ontario labor laws, " the CFA said in a statement .

The team statement reads: " ... not only will they take legal action to force us back on the field, but they will consider taking steps to collect millions of dollars in damages from our players association and everyone. Currently in practice camp players.

" As individual players, we have not been compensated for any work done for Canadian Football in 2022 and we cannot afford the risk that Canadian Football does to us as individuals.

" Because of this, we have informed Canadian Soccer that we will resume training (Sunday) and will participate in the SheBelieves Cup as scheduled. "

Canadian women's soccer team resumes training under threat of legal action

forced to return to training shortly

The statement added that the team believes that Canadian Soccer will make budget cuts ahead of preparations for the July 20 - August competition. The 20 - day World Cup was " unacceptable " and urged the governing body to do more to support the squad.

Sinclair said the team was " forced to return to work on a short-term basis " .

" This is not over. We will keep fighting for what we deserve and we will win. The SheBelieves Cup is being held in protest, " Sinclair tweeted.

The Canadian Football Association, which met with the Canadian Football Players' Association on Saturday, said it was committed to addressing every request the players had made.

" But the Canadian Football Association knows it's not enough. There's still a lot of work to be done, " it added.