‘Enough is enough’: Canadian women’s soccer team to strike over funding cuts, pay equity

The Canadian women’s soccer team is planning to go on strike this week due to funding cuts as well as pay equity issues, team captain Christine Sinclair announced Friday. This development comes just days before the team is scheduled to appear at the SheBelieves Cup.

Brazil, Japan and USA are also scheduled to participate in the cup, with the latter playing against the Canadian team in its first match in the cup, which is to begin on February 16.

The governing body, Soccer Canada, levied cuts on training camp days, full camp windows, and the number of players and staff invited into camps, and curbed funding for youth teams, according to the statement by the team.

“Enough is enough,” said Sinclair while quote-tweeting the statement.

“Until this is resolved, I cannot represent this association,” the women’s team captain stated to media outlets.

“With the biggest tournament in women’s football history less than six months away, our preparation for the World Cup and the future success of the Women’s National Team program are being compromised by Canada Soccer’s continued inability to support its national teams,” the statement read.

“Despite our strong track record of success and history-making achievements for more than a decade, we continue to be told there is not enough money to adequately fund our program and our youth teams,” the statement continued further.

In a statement on Friday, the Canadian men’s soccer team has since also shown support for the women’s team’s decision.