Canada Soccer says its World The Cup-bound men’s team has returned to practice after refusing to play an exhibition match against Panama due to tense labor talks.
The nation’s governing body announced on social media on Monday that the two sides had met the night before. The team returned to practice in the afternoon and future meetings were scheduled.
Canada is set to play Curacao in the CONCACAF National League on Thursday at BC Place in Vancouver. The federation did not focus on the upcoming game in its announcement.
The players said in a brief statement on Monday: “We look forward to the hope that Canada Soccer will work with us to resolve the situation.”
The match against Panama was called off just two hours before kickoff after players refused to take the field. Players preparing for Canada’s first World Cup appearance since 1986 did not practice on Friday or Saturday.
The team issued a statement on Sunday outlining their contract demands, which included 40% of the World Cup prize money, a travel package for friends and relatives and “a similar structure with our women’s national team that offers the same player match fees, prizes and prizes.” shares a percentage of the amount”. Earned in the development of our respective FIFA World Cup and a women’s domestic league. ,
Players also want transparency with the Canadian soccer business, which in 2018 signed a deal with the federation to oversee media rights, sponsorship deals and other commercial assets.
“We look forward to working closely with our organization, but relations have been strained over the years,” the players said in a statement. “And now, Canada Soccer has disrespected our team and jeopardized our efforts to raise the standards and effectively advance the sport in Canada.”
The move comes less than a month after unions for the US men’s and women’s team struck a landmark agreement with US Soccer for equal pay.
Canadian Soccer president Nick Bontis called the players’ demands untenable. The federation presented its proposal to the teams on Friday.
“Canada Football is working with players in good faith to find a way forward that is fair and equitable to all. We want to have a fact-based discussion within the financial reality that Canada Soccer has to live every day,” said Bontis. “Canadian Soccer is committed to the principles of fairness and equality and we believe we have made a fair offer to players. has been introduced. We benchmarked our offer against other national teams from around the world. On the issue of gender equality raised in the players’ letter, Canada Soccer’s offer is also committed to providing our women’s national team the exact same terms.
Canadian women are ranked sixth in the world and won an Olympic gold medal last year. The women’s side weighed in on the controversy on Sunday, saying that its talks with the federation have been going on since January.
The statement said the women do not consider a percentage of the World Cup prize money earned by the respective teams as equal pay. But the women said they considered the federation’s proposal a step in the process last week.
“The women’s national team will not accept a settlement that does not offer equal pay,” the players said.
Panama was a late replacement for the men’s team as an opponent after Canadian Soccer canceled a match against Iran following criticism by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Canada is scheduled to tour Honduras on 13 June in the CONCACAF Nations League Play. FIFA-ranked 38th-ranked Canada makes their World Cup debut in Qatar against second-ranked Belgium on 23 November, plays No.16 Croatia four days later, and then faces No.24 Morocco on 1 December.
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