Canada Soccer demands equal pay for female and male athletes

Olympic gold medallists in Tokyo 2020, Canada women’s soccer team has requested equal pay and opportunities from their male counterparts.

They decided to go on strike after the Federation had proceeded to reduce the number of training camp days and complete camp dates.

Unfortunately, the strike called by the Canadian national soccer team only lasted one day. Under pressure, they were compelled to restart their matches and training in preparation for the World Cup this summer.

Not going down without a fight

Nonetheless, captain Christine Sinclair’s team is not giving up on their fight!

On Friday 10th, the Canadian players issued a joint statement. They stated that they were "outraged and deeply concerned" at the announcements from the Federation.

"We are tired of constantly having to fight for fair and equal treatment. And for a program that will give us a chance to achieve what we know this team is capable of achieving for Canada".

Secondly, "This lack of support threatens to reverse the progress we've made as a soccer nation and to send us back to obscurity."

Furthermore, the statement read:

“With the biggest tournament in women’s football history less than six months away, our preparation for the World Cup and the future success of the women’s national team program are being compromised by Canada Soccer’s continued inability to support its national teams. Despite our strong track record of success and history-making achievements for more than a decade, we continue to be told there is not enough money to adequately fund our program and our youth teams.”

And lastly:

"The national teams cannot afford to be the only ones fighting for our success any longer. Enough was enough a long time ago."

Inequalities all around

At present, only a handful of national federations, notably those of Australia and England, have committed to paying the same remuneration to all their athletes.

Nonetheless, players from abroad have come to the Canadians support. Notably Alex Morgan, two-time World cup winner with the US, has posted on Twitter.

"What do they have to do, win a gold medal? Sell out stadiums? Oh wait... It's 2023, wake up @CanadaSoccerEN you're on the clock."

Canada soccer take it to the pitch

The Canadian national team wore purple T-shirts during warm-ups at Exploria Stadium and played with purple tape around their wrists.

Purple has historically been associated with efforts to achieve gender equality. World champions USA also showed solidarity with Canada before kickoff.