Canada Soccer Threatened to Sue Women’s Team Over Strike

Canada’s women’s national soccer team has called off a strike after Canada Soccer threatened to take legal action against the Canadian Soccer Players’ Association.

The team —  which is currently in Orlando, Florida, preparing for this week’s SheBelieves Cup — said Friday that its players would be taking job action due to budget cuts, equal pay disparities, and lack of support from Canada Soccer. 

• The players boycotted training Saturday.
• Veteran players Christine Sinclair and Janine Beckie said they wouldn’t represent Canada Soccer until demands were met.
• The governing body, which claimed on Friday that said negotiations had been in place for months, threatened to sue the CSPA and the players at camp.

“They told us that if we did not return to work… they would not only take legal action to force us back to the pitch but would consider taking steps to collect what could be millions of dollars in damages from our Players’ Association and from each of the individual players currently in camp,” the team said Saturday.

The CSPA said their players have yet to receive compensation for any of their 2022 work and “cannot afford the risks that personal action against us by Canada Soccer will create.”

Canada’s Competition

The team will play Thursday, but its off-field work isn’t done.

“We will continue to fight for everything we deserve and we will win. The SheBelieves Cup is being played in protest,” Sinclair tweeted.