Canada’s preparations for this year’s World Cup were marred by further upheavals as players went on a de facto strike in Vancouver ahead of the country’s friendly match with Panama on Sunday.
John Herdman’s team refused to train on Friday and Saturday in an apparent protest over the players ’compensation and perks for Qatar 2022, with months of fruitless talks coming to a head. According to reports, the players and Canada Soccer are still far apart in the lawsuits, with an initial TSN report suggesting that the players had called for a 40% reduction in World Cup revenue with the association offering only 10 % of an unexpected FIFA profit that is likely at $ 10. range of 15 million.
Following the debacle of Canada Soccer, which initially hosted a friendly against Iran, two years after 85 Canadian citizens and permanent residents were killed when a passenger plane was shot down by Iranian forces shortly after leaving Tehran, the surprising events of the weekend caused more ignominy in a long-deteriorated association due to dysfunction and poor performance.
Herdman defied expectations and history to lead the Canadian men to their first place in the World Cup in 36 years, the team led by exciting young talents such as Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David surpassing the CONCACAF standings and winning a big wave of new fans along the way.
Sunday’s friendly was to be the team’s first comeback at home since sealing the qualifier against Jamaica in Toronto in March. However, the destination of the match, scheduled to start at 16.00 local time (19.00 Eastern), was unclear.
The team was due to train at the Vancouver Whitecaps base at the University of British Columbia in the early hours of Friday afternoon. With less than an hour’s notice, that session was delayed by almost three hours before being canceled altogether. Saturday’s workout was also suspended.
The clash comes shortly after the United States Football Federation reached an innovative agreement with its men’s and women’s national teams that will allow them to share the proceeds of their respective World Cup campaigns and receive the same payment for appearances and victories. This agreement will allow American players a combined cut of more than 80% of World Cup revenue.
Late last night on Saturday, Canada Soccer disputed initial reports and said it had proposed that the men’s team be given a 30% cut in prizes, with the same amount as the women’s team. the association would take the remaining 40%.
“To be clear, the demand for the men’s team was 75-100 percent of the World Cup awards,” the statement said. “The Association, in an effort to adhere to the principle of pay equity, proposed that 60% of the FIFA World Cup awards be shared between the two teams.”
That the sources of the players and the sources of the association indicate very different demands and offers only served to emphasize how disorderly the situation is. Players are also reportedly upset because they will receive only two free tickets each for their matches in Qatar and families will have to pay in their own way. Canada Soccer president Nick Bontis and his acting deputy secretary general flew to Vancouver on Saturday night with Sunday’s game still in doubt.
Iran’s shameful mismanagement of the reserve had left Herdman and his team with a three-match window that contained only the opposition of CONCACAF, Panama followed by League of Nations matches against Curacao here in Vancouver and a dating away with Honduras. Opponents of Group F of Canada, Belgium, Croatia and Morocco, on the other hand, were testing themselves against their World Cup teammates in this window. Continental rivals Mexico and the United States had booked a pair of friendlies against qualified teams.
“Every minute together is crucial as we prepare to work together to give ourselves the best chance to play against some of the best in the world on the biggest stage,” Herdman said before the Panama match, which was to see the return of Davies. in a Canadian shirt for the first time in 2022 and potentially a first selection for the exciting teenager Luca Koleosho, who recently made his debut in the League with Espanyol.
Herdman’s achievements at the helm came from a herculean solo work of sourcing and gathering support staff. But there were indications that the association was not moving forward with great strides in the field. Combined with the glory of the women’s gold medal in Tokyo last summer, the men’s progress had generated a lot of demand from Canadian replica kit fans, but they ran out of stock for a significant amount of time.
Former Canadian goalkeeper Craig Forrest had told the Guardian this week that Canada Soccer “felt unstaffed” and that the men’s qualification following the Olympic success had created a false impression that the national association had its home in order.
“The only difference has been John Herdman, who has been able to guide players through all the challenges and I don’t think he has changed enough,” Forrest said. “And now they’re going to the biggest event on the planet 10 times and you have to be prepared for this whirlwind coming at you from all sides.”