Only four countries have won Olympic Gold since women’s football was introduced to the games in 1996. Canada added themselves to the exclusive list after beating Sweden in a penalty shootout inside the International Stadium in Yokohama, Tokyo. 18 months later, the gold medallists are still yet to be paid for the entirety of 2022.
Now the Canadian Soccer Association’s (CSA) reported budget cuts could jeopardise their women’s team’s chances of ever winning a medal again.
On 10 February 2023—after a year of negotiations between Canada’s players and the CSA—captain Christine Sinclair and the rest of the squad finally said "enough is enough."
In a joint statement between the national team squad and the Canadian Soccer Players’ Association (CSPA), the players said they are "outraged and deeply concerned" by the Canadian Soccer Association’s reported funding cuts, adding: "The time is now, we are taking job action."
The players say their demands go beyond financials, but that they are seeking equal pay with the men's team going forward, as well as equal investment in resources between the respective programs, including increased staffing.
Their demands come as the Canadian Soccer Association plan widespread budget cuts—which the players of the women’s national team believe disproportionately affects their program.
On the same day as the joint statement was published by the Canadian Soccer Players’ Association, 322-capped Christine Sinclair gave an interview with TSN’s Sportcentre in which she said: "until this is resolved, I cannot represent this association."
Sinclair said: "Some of us trained today with our shirts inside out, but the fact we haven’t heard from [the CSA] since we put in our demands, they haven’t even had the courtesy to reach out to us to schedule an emergency call, as a team we’ve decided to take job action."
"From this moment on we will not be participating in any [CSA] activities until this is resolved. That’s very hard to say as an athlete who wants to compete, who wants to represent Canada, but enough is enough at this point."
A deadline of one week was then given to the CSA to resolve the situation, otherwise the players intended to extend their strike beyond the training camp that they were in at the time of issuing their demands, refusing to participate in the 2023 edition of the SheBelieves Cup, organised by the United States Soccer Federation.
The CSA’s response was a swift public defence of both its past and present position regarding the women’s national team, reiterating their earlier comments of how the CSA has "a proven track record of supporting women’s soccer. Pay equity for our women’s national team is at the core of our ongoing player negotiations. [We] will not agree to any deal without it."
The CSA were also swift to claim to have "already issued a mutually agreed retroactive payment [for 2022]" and "presented an equity-based proposal to our national teams several months ago."
Their statement accepted "there is more to do" with regard to equity between the programs of both sexes, adding: "we need to have a collective bargaining agreement in place, to responsibly plan for the future."
The CSA’s response was not limited to public comment, however—they also engaged their lawyers, shutting down the national team squad’s threat of a formal strike with a threat of their own: legal action that would have left both the Canadian Soccer Players’ Association and each player within the team camp individually liable for millions of dollars in damages should the team fail to uphold contractual obligation to participate in the SheBelieves Cup.
Faced with little option but to take to the pitch against the United States in their opening match, the Canadian players did just that—although they stressed that they were playing under protest. It was a stressing which played out using both words and action, all of which was supported by the players of the United States; who have themselves had to fight for equality between the national team programs of both sexes in their own country.
Both sets of players wore purple on the pitch at Exploria Stadium, Orlando—a colour that is often used to symbolise gender equality issues—before and during the match. It was a move that was seen again in further displays of solidarity from multiple other women’s national teams during the February international window.
Where do all go from here? One major concern of the national team players is how the Canadian Soccer Association’s reported funding cuts will jeopardise performance at future tournaments. When the players arrived in Orlando for the SheBelieves Cup, it was with notably fewer staff members than had previously been the norm. The reduction in the women’s team budget will also likely cause there to be fewer players at training camps still yet to come, which will themselves be fewer in number.
It’s a future which prompted 220-capped Sophie Schmidt to retire on the spot following the CSA’s threat of legal action, asking the team’s head coach, Bev Priestman, to arrange her a flight home. Schmidt has since decided to stick around for this summer’s World Cup, after Christine Sinclair talked her out of leaving.
One other person who may need to also be persuaded to stick around is gold medal winning head coach Bev Priestman herself, who is said to be attracting interest from multiple clubs.
Canada’s opening game of the 2023 Women’s World Cup is against Nigeria on 21 July, in Melbourne. It remains to be seen who will be present for it.
Update: July 2023 On February 27, amid the ongoing dispute and following a letter from footballing leaders within Canada requesting him to do so, Nick Bontis, the president of Canada Soccer, announced his resignation.
A week later, Canada Soccer announced that it had agreed a deal in principle with the women's national team regarding interim funding agreements. Negotiations continued over a final collective bargaining deal for both the men's and the women's teams, with Christine Sinclair being quoted as saying the fight for better conditions and funding "is not over".
That fight, however, may prove to be a difficult one for players to win in light of Canada Soccer's financial situation being reportedly so dire it could be forced to file for bankruptcy.
For now, the women's team is going to the World Cup, with their budget for the tournament unaffected.
