The Canada women’s national team has gone on strike over budget cuts, equal pay issues and lack of support from Canada Soccer and will boycott the SheBelieves Cup if the issues are not resolved.
SheBelieves is set to kick off next Thursday. But both Janine Beckie and Christine Sinclair told TSN’s Rick Westhead that the team is not taking part in any activities until the issue is resolved.
In a statement on Friday, the team said that they are “outraged and deeply concerned” about the “significant” cuts to both national team programs in 2023. Pointing to the popularity of both teams, they called out Canada Soccer for failing to provide adequate funding for preparation ahead of the World Cup, which begins in six months.
“Now that our World Cup is approaching, the Women’s National Team players are being told to prepare to perform at a world-class level without the same level of support that was received by the Men’s National Team in 2022,” they wrote. “This is an unacceptable burden to put on the shoulders of our players.”
…
