Canada Urge Soccer Governance Investigation
Several serious allegations have been made against the sport’s national governing body that leads Canada’s men’s and women’s national soccer teams to call on Sport Canada to investigate them.
The Sports Network’s Rick Westhead recently reported on the “internal workings of Canadian soccer” in a statement shared by Olympic gold medalist Christine Sinclair.
It was revealed in the report that Canada Soccer was unable to adequately compensate players due to a contract it had signed with the private company CSB, which keeps a large percentage of the national team revenue.
It was reported on Tuesday that the two sides had yet to reach an agreement and disagreed over bonus money for the men’s team from the upcoming World Cup in Qatar.
The current negotiations between Canadian Soccer and its national teams “don’t impact the CSB agreement approved by our Board,” Canadian Soccer told CNN.
Canadian Soccer spokesman Paulo Senra told CNN in an email that the CSB agreement does not mention prize money for players.
Concerning allegations criticizing their governance practices, Canadian Soccer did not respond to CNN.
In response to CNN’s request for comment, neither the Canadian Premier League nor Sport Canada has responded. Sports Canada was asked by the men’s and women’s national teams to investigate matters related to Canadian Soccer’s governance practices and the agreement with CSB was issued on Wednesday.
Sports Canada funds Canada Soccer and other national sports organizations.
CSB, however, remained in place even as board members allegedly expressed concerns about the agreement, according to the statement.
Whenever the governing body made significant decisions that impacted the national teams, both asked to be “properly consulted.”
As CNN reported, Senra’s board of directors met on March 27, 2018, at which time the CSB agreement was discussed and approved.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Canadian Soccer expressed pride in its association with CSB, which it said would help to grow the sport.
As part of its ongoing negotiations with players, the federation said it had prioritized “fairness and pay equity” after previously engaging its national teams independently in contract negotiations.
A new offer was made to the men’s national team on June 23, according to the federation. Our Women’s National Team is facing the same offer, according to the statement.
Despite this, the players accused Canadian Soccer of attempting to portray the article in a positive light and failing to confirm that it would immediately open its books and records and address its lack of transparency in the future.
Furthermore, Canadian Soccer does not commit to addressing any of the problems identified in the article, since it does not acknowledge its governance or leadership issues.”
Having qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 36 years, Canada’s men will take part in the tournament in Qatar from November to December.
A total of $440 million has been allocated in prize money by FIFA, the governing body of world football. To cover preparation costs, each participating country will receive $1.5 million before the tournament begins to cover the costs of elimination at the group stages. The prize money will increase as teams progress, with the winners earning $42 million.
Players were unable to receive compensation before a friendly with Panama in June.
Westhead of TSN posted an open letter on Twitter by the men’s team asking for 40 percent of World Cup prize money and friends and family travel packages. A women’s domestic league and a player match fee structure that is equitable to our men’s national team.
Despite its commitment to pay the women’s team the same percentage as the men at each major tournament, Canadian Soccer said such demands were “untenable” and not “financially viable.” A resolution will be sought, Canada Soccer said.
As a spokesman for Canadian Soccer told CNN on Thursday that the organization’s new general secretary offered to meet the women’s team and its representatives following the Concacaf W championship in Mexico, a qualifying tournament for the 2023 Women’s World Cup and the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Continuing to seek an equitable resolution based on fairness and equal pay is our commitment to open and transparent communication with both of our teams.”
