Strike by the Canadians: they refused to play a friendly against Panama

The Canadian soccer team, ranked for Qatar 2022, refused to have a friendly this Sunday against its two Panamanians, in the midst of a dispute with your federation from the conditions of the new collective agreement.

Among its main requirements is that the Canadian female representative receives the same salary as the male and that they share the economic prizes of the World Cup with the women’s national team.

The game, which was to be played at BC Place in Vancouver, it was canceled two hours before it started. The Canadian players had already refused to train on Friday and Saturday.

The men’s team released a statement amid heated negotiations with Canada Soccer, the governing body, less than a month after unions of the US men’s and women’s teams reached a historic equal pay agreement with the United States. Football, the federation of that country.

Among other things, the players criticized an agreement signed by Canada Soccer and its business partner, Canadian Soccer Business, in 2018, demanding that the terms of the contract be made public.

The statement also called for a “fair structure ”with that of the“ women’s national team“, winner of the gold medal of the last Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

These changes will result in the same match revenue and the same percentage of the cash prize being received at the FIFA World Cup, as well as the development of a women’s national championship.

Canadian footballers concluded the text with a sorry for the fans and his desire for the dispute to be resolved before Thursday’s clash with Curaçao in the Concacaf Nations League.

Canada qualified for a World Cup after 36 years. His last and only participation was in Mexico 86, when he failed to make it through the group stage.

The North American team finished first in the Concacaf Qualifiers, also above the great powers in the region such as the United States and Mexico. At Qatar 2022, Canada will share Group F with Belgium, Morocco and Croatia.

The president of the Canadian federation, “disappointed”

At a subsequent press conference, Canada Soccer President Nick Bontis said yes “very disappointed” with the decision of his players and defended the position of his body in the negotiations.

“Canada Soccer has worked with players in good faith to find a way forward that is fair and affordable for all. We would like to have a fact-based discussion within the tax realities that Canada Soccer has to live with every day.” “, he declared.

Furthermore, he noted: “We believe we have made a fair offer to the players. We have compared our offer with that of other teams around the world. “

“On the issue of gender equity, Canada Soccer has also committed to providing exactly the same conditions for the women’s team.“, he assured.

This abrupt cancellation ends a friendly match that had already experienced other controversies in recent weeks. Iran was the original opponent of this match, but the federation replaced him at the last minute with Panama due to the numerous criticisms received for the choice of the Asian team, led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The accusations also came from the families of passengers killed in the downing of a Ukraine International Airlines plane by the Iranian armed forces shortly after take-off from Tehran in January 2020.

The tragedy, which Iran later claimed to be the product of a mistake, killed 176 people, including 85 Canadians.

With information from AP and AFP

DB