Canadian women soccer players defiant in wake of shameful treatment by Canada Soccer
CBC
This is a column by Shireen Ahmed, who writes opinion for CBC Sports. For more information about CBC's Opinion section, please see the FAQ.
News of the Canadian women's soccer team's job action sent sports media into a tizzy equal to the news of Toronto's mayor quitting due to an extramarital affair, and the prime minister permitting UFOs to be shot down in Canadian airspace.
Last Friday, the women's team, the Olympic champions from Tokyo, announced that they were taking "job action" ahead of the SheBelieves Cup in Florida this week. But they were quickly forced into returning to the field under threat of legal action by Canada Soccer, the organization that runs the team. All this just days before a key tune-up tournament to the Women's World Cup this summer where the team is a strong contender.
Prior to the news, I had naively thought the team was in Florida simply preparing to play against the U.S., Japan and Brazil. Canada, ranked No. 7 in the world, plays No.1 U.S. on Thursday. I assumed the focus would be on the competition, exactly what the players should be focusing on.
But I was wrong. And I don't blame them.
WATCH | Canadian women's team continues fight for equal financial support:
Instead, they are embroiled in a (I put this very mildly) tête-à-tête with Soccer Canada. After sending in a list of demands to the federation and hearing nothing, they released the statement on Friday afternoon.
"Enough was enough a long time ago," they said.
And the proverbial doodoo hit the fan.
The soccer federation has cut a lot of the budget for 2023, including money for staff and participants for the women's program. Ahead of the Olympics, the women's team (CanWNT) had 28 players at camp; that number has been reduced to 20 for this tournament. That is not even enough players to have a full 11 vs 11 scrimmage.
Cutting the budget that affects the opportunity for the CanWNT to be fully prepared for the World Cup — the most important tournament in the world of soccer — and slashes the youth program, is a devastating blow.
WATCH | Canadian women to play SheBelieves Cup under protest:
On Tuesday I attended a media call organized by the Canadian Soccer Player Association (CPSA), an independent entity representing the women's players. It featured team captain Christine Sinclair, Janine Beckie, Quinn and Sophie Schmidt. Due to ongoing legal issues, there were some subjects the players said they could not comment on. One of those was Canada Soccer's controversial deal with Canadian Soccer Business, which the women stated they have yet to see the specifics on.
Their candour was powerful: "Angry, frustrated, appalled and heartbroken," said team stalwart Sophie Schmidt, who announced her pending retirement from international soccer at the beginning of the call.
When a teenaged Chloe Primerano made her debut on the Canadian women’s hockey team last season, Jocelyne Larocque was often the steady force beside her on the blue line.
The Vancouver Canucks announced Friday that they have traded captain Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild.
Canada's Kevin Drury battled his way to a gold medal that left him in tears at a World Cup ski cross event on Friday in Val Thorens, France.
Soccer fans have accused FIFA of a "monumental betrayal" after latest prices for World Cup tickets began to circulate on Thursday.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is “disappointed” that the main arena slated to host ice hockey at February’s Olympics isn’t yet completed with less than two months to go before the Games are scheduled to be played.
A two-year suspension from competitive swimming has forced Penny Oleksiak to answer questions about drug use, train by herself in public pools and defend her legacy as Canada’s most decorated female Olympian.
Hockey, one of the premier events at the Winter Olympics and one that is welcoming NHL players back for the first time in more than a decade, will take place on ice shorter than NHL-regulation size.
Summer McIntosh capped swimming’s U.S. Open with the event record in the women’s 200-metre butterfly on Saturday in Austin, Texas.
Some bronze medals are worth their weight in gold. Valerie Grenier's third-place finish in women's giant slalom at the Mont-Tremblant World Cup certainly fits that category.
The men’s World Cup draw in Washington D.C. was going well for Canada until Pot 4.
The draw for the 2026 World Cup takes place Friday at 12 p.m. ET at the Kennedy Center in Washington, for the purpose of dividing the 48-team field into 12 groups of four. Once the tournament starts, 32 teams will advance from those preliminary groups to the single-elimination knockout rounds.
The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., buzzed with activity and speculation on Thursday in advance of Friday’s all-important draw for the 2026 men’s World Cup.
By the time the management group for the Canadian men’s national hockey team emerges from marathon meetings on Tuesday, as much as 80 per cent of the roster going to Italy next February should be written in pen.