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Canada’s men’s soccer team went on strike to compensate players ahead of a friendly against Panama on Sunday.
Westhead shared a copy of the letter describing the players’ requests, which includes 40 percent of the World Cup awards:
Rick Westhead @rwesthead
This is the letter “Dear Canada” published by the players of the Canadian men’s national team.
Requesting a review of the issuance of Canada Soccer & sponsorship contracts, 40% of the money from the World Cup qualifiers and a joint contract with the women’s team with equal compensation for match quotas. pic.twitter.com/STazGyJ9MW
Canada Soccer has confirmed that the match has been canceled:
Canada Soccer @CanadaSoccerEN
The Canada Soccer Men’s International Team Match scheduled for Sunday, June 5 at BC Place has been canceled. Additional details will be provided to all ticket buyers. pic.twitter.com/jUnxTTpZe5
The timing of the news could not have been much worse for the fans who had planned to attend the friendly.
Faizal Khamisa @SNFaizalKhamisa
I flew to Vancouver with my dad to come see a game. Just lim right now.
Ben Steiner @ BenSteiner00
📍BC Place, Vancouver
Some Canadian fans are already queuing outside and around area bars 2 hours before the scheduled start.
Some aren’t sure about the news … expect it to show up much higher, despite the cancellation.
BC Place security and fully configured operations. pic.twitter.com/tM0TXZUmND
Joe Callaghan @ JoeCallaghan84
Of course, the situation is very fluid and complex, but the communication of Canada Soccer (as during the debacle in Iran) has been unfortunate. Fans are completely left out without knowing what is going on.
When it comes to driving significant change, the leverage of the men’s team has probably never been greater than it is now.
While the Canadian women’s team has been a mainstay of the World Cup and ranks sixth in the FIFA World Cup, the men will compete in their first World Cup since 1986, when they travel to Qatar at the end of year.
This has only raised expectations for Les Rouges in 2026, when Canada will host the World Cup with Mexico and the United States.
The men’s national team wrote how it hoped that making a ticket to the 2022 World Cup “would bring a level of respect and a financial opportunity that could raise the standards and opportunities for the next generation of players in our country and change the trajectory of football in Canada forever.
The team also said that “Canada Soccer has signed an agreement with Canadian Soccer Business that is fully committed to its ability to leverage the success on the field of our senior national teams.”
Sunday’s strike follows a similar dispute between the U.S. women’s national team and U.S. football. Women claimed that there was a wide gap between their earnings and those of men, despite the USWNT winning consecutive World Cups in 2015 and 2019.
The years-long struggle finally came to an end in May, with U.S. football signing collective bargaining agreements with the USMNT and the USWNT that guaranteed equal pay, including uniform payments for the World Cup. .