Christine Sinclair, the captain of Canada’s women’s national team, has confirmed that the national team will go on strike this week due to lack of funding, which they say will affect their ability to perform at this year’s Women’s World Cup.
Less than a week before the Olympic champions take on the She Believes Cup against the US, Brazil and Japan, Sinclair and Janine Beckie appeared on Canadian sports channel TSN to say they will not participate in team activities, including competitions, until the dispute is resolved .
The interview came after Canada’s women’s and men’s teams issued separate statements complaining of budget cuts for the women’s team by the National Council of Canada. Canadian Football Association demanded responses from the association.
Some of us trained with our shirts inside out today, but since we haven’t heard from the federation since we filed our complaints, they haven’t even had the courtesy to contact us to arrange an emergency call as a team . decided to file a lawsuit. As of this writing, we will no longer be participating in Football Canada Association activities until this is resolved, either in training or in games. As an athlete who wants to compete, who wants to represent Canada, it’s very hard to say, but that’s enough.
For her part, Beckie, the former Manchester City striker, insisted that the players would not move until everything was sorted out.
From this moment on, we do not train, do not go to concentrations. We will not participate in planned activities with the team in the near future. If we come next Thursday afternoon and this is not resolved, we will not play against the United States in the SheBelieves Cup. The men’s and women’s national teams unite against a federation that has mistreated us for too long, we have been too nice for too long.
The interview came shortly after team members issued a statement on Canadian Football Association Nele, stating that preparations for the upcoming World Cup are “threatened by the federation’s continued inability to support its national teams.”
According to the statement, the Football Association of Canada has reduced the time spent on rallies, as well as the number of players and staff invited. They were also told there will be no home games ahead of the 2019 World Cup, which kicks off in Australia and New Zealand in July.
We are tired of constantly fighting for fair and just treatment and a program that gives us the opportunity to achieve what this team can achieve for Canada. This lack of support threatens to undo the progress we have made as a football country and plunge us back into oblivion. To keep our team strong globally, we need an association that supports us at the level expected of us – globally.
In addition, they point out that “significant sums of money and resources have been invested in our men’s team to ensure there are no gaps in their preparation for the 2022 Men’s World Cup,” while urging the women’s team to perform without the same return.
This was explained by the Canadian Football Association.
After months of negotiations with the players of the women’s team and their legal advisers, the association has already issued an additional amicable compensation. We have already informed our women’s team that the Friends and Family program awarded to our men’s team in Qatar will be repeated for our women at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. This is a real change, but much remains to be done. To continue this important work, we need a collective agreement that allows us to plan responsibly for the future.
(With information from Europa Press)
Source: La Neta Neta
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
