Canada Soccer reaches interim funding agreement with women's team

Canada Soccer has reached an interim funding agreement with the Canadian women’s national team that is retroactive to 2022, the two sides announced in a statement Thursday. Here’s what you need to know:

• The terms of the deal “mirror a similar deal with the men’s national team players that includes per-game incentives and results-based compensation,” according to the statement.
• The women’s national team’s previous agreement with Canada Soccer expired in 2021.
• Negotiations for “a new overarching collective bargaining agreement” for both national teams are still ongoing, and the interim agreement may change “on the basis of details” in the final deal, per the statement.

Backstory

On Feb. 11, the Canada women’s national team refused to train with just five days to go before their first match in the SheBelieves Cup after they and members of the men’s national team expressed fresh concerns with Canada Soccer. The action came amidst ongoing collective bargaining negotiations between the two teams and Canada Soccer, which the players said reached a point of “crisis.”

By the night of Feb. 11, the women’s team announced that they were being compelled to return to training ahead of the SheBelieves Cup, a four-team invitational that took place Feb. 16-22, under threat of legal action against both the team and the individual players.

The players did participate in the SheBelieves Cup, though Christine Sinclair tweeted that “The SheBelieves (Cup) is being played in protest” ahead of Canada’s first game of the tournament.

To be clear. We are being forced back to work for the short term. This is not over. We will continue to fight for everything we deserve and we will win. The She Believes is being played in protest. https://t.co/1CmXU3CiYp

— Christine Sinclair (@sincy12) February 12, 2023

The team wore purple warmups that read “Enough is Enough” as a “symbol of protest” during its game against the U.S. at the SheBelieves Cup on Feb. 16.

What they’re saying

“This is about respect, this is about dignity, and this is about equalizing the competitive environment in a world that is fundamentally unequal,” Earl Cochrane, Canada Soccer’s General Secretary, said in Thursday’s release.

“We have been consistent and public about the need to have fairness and equal pay be pillars of any new agreements with our players, and we are delivering on that today. While this is an important step forward, and it signals progress, there is still more work to do to ensure both of our national programs are given the necessary resources and supports to prepare and compete.”

Required reading

• Kloke: Nick Bontis’ resignation won’t solve Canada Soccer’s deep, ongoing issues
• Canadian women’s national team sits out training after demanding ‘immediate change’ in funding
• USWNT players back Canada women’s team amid dispute with federation: What comes next?

(Photo: Patrick Hamilton / AFP via Getty)

Get all-access to exclusive stories.

Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. Try a week on us.