On Saturday, Feb. 11, the Canada women’s national team sat out training after they and members of the men’s national team expressed fresh concerns with the country’s federation, Canada Soccer. This action comes amidst ongoing collective bargaining negotiations between the two teams and Canada Soccer, which the players say have reached a the point of “crisis.”
The time is now, we are taking job action. pic.twitter.com/QbVbhTcdDU
— CanadianSoccerPlayers (@PlayersCanadian) February 10, 2023
By Saturday night, the women’s team announced that they were being compelled to return to training ahead of the SheBelieves Cup, which begins this week, under threat of legal action against both the team and the individual players.
To help clarify the situation and the actions taken by all sides of the dispute, The Athletic answers some of the biggest questions surrounding this situation below.
What’s the issue between the two Canada national teams and the federation?
There is no shortage of grievances that the men’s and women’s national teams have had with Canada Soccer.
According to Canada and Chelsea midfielder Jessie Fleming, those grievances go beyond player compensation disputes.
“There are two larger issues that exist within Canada Soccer,” she wrote in an…
