Play for money. Canadians call for an investigation into the agreements reached with the federation

July 14 - The Canadian Women's Team, currently preparing for their semi-final clash with Jamaica tonight in the Concacaf W Championship, has released a joint statement with the Canadian Men's Team asking Sport Canada to investigate business partnerships agreed by their national team. federation.

The men's and women's teams are currently involved in a negotiation with Canada Soccer over the payment of World Cup bonuses, with the players arguing that they need more money from FIFA than the federation receives for their attendance.

None of the teams are getting what they want, with the federation saying they cannot afford to pay their demands if they want to support their development, including the expansion of professional leagues in the country.< /p>

The timing of the joint statement couldn't have come at a more inopportune time as Canada chases the Concacaf W Championship title and automatic berth to the 2024 Olympics. -finals, they secured their place at the 2023 World Cup.

The pay dispute with the men's team came to a head in June with their demand for a larger share of FIFA's $10 million fee. They were offered $1 million, but the players are asking for 40%.

The dispute became so heated with the men's team that they refused to play a friendly match against Panama in June, although they continued to train and then played a League of Nations match. Nations in Honduras, which they lost.

A story published on the website of Canadian broadcaster TSN inflamed sensibilities yesterday, outlining a deal with Canadian Soccer Business (CSB) for the commercial rights to Canada Soccer signed in 2017 for 10 years with a $3 million guarantee. dollars per year to $3.5 million per year. There is also a clause in which CSB can apparently renew the contract with Canada Soccer for another 10 years with a guarantee of around $4 million per year.

CSB has raised funds for the new Canadian Men's Professional League in Canada and is leading the establishment of a women's professional structure in the country. It is not known how much they have invested in the professional structure of the country to date.

This deal was a long one and was signed at a time when there was no guarantee the men's team would challenge at the top of their confederation, even though they knew they had a good group of young players who were starting to get playing time in foreign leagues.

The players believe that the agreement with the CSB is bad and therefore potentially corrupt, and demand greater transparency from the federation.

While no female players play for club soccer in Canada, many have been trained within the Canadian youth system and youth national teams before joining professional teams in other parts of the world. They argue that it was their work that sparked interest in the game in Canada and the commercial support it is beginning to generate, and they want to be compensated for it.

“As a united group of Canada's National Team players, we seek full transparency from Canada Soccer. We call for an investigation by Sport Canada into Canada Soccer's governance practices and the circumstances under which Canada Soccer entered into its agreement with Canada Soccer Business,” said the joint statement from the men's and women's teams released on Wednesday.

“Going forward, we demand that members of Canada's National Teams are properly consulted in key Canada Soccer decisions that impact National Teams. »

For the Canadian federation, the problem is very simple, and it is one faced by many federations throughout the Caribbean and Central America. If they pay the players' demands in full, they run the risk of bankrupting the federation, at the very least they won't be able to carry out their development programs. As a result, Canadian soccer's dramatic rise to global recognition will be virtually snuffed out at birth.

While the United States was able to strike a massive deal with their women's team to settle their long-running salary dispute, Canadian football is nowhere near as commercially developed and is in a smaller market where the football infrastructure is catching up. Even in the United States, insiders say the fallout from the pay deal will drain the resources of the national federation and mean the removal of several grassroots initiatives.

In their statement, the players say, “Our sport is at a critical time in Canada. Both of our teams have qualified for the World Cup. Across the country, parents and children are embracing the sport, the success of national teams is inspiring the whole country, and the future of our national teams, which depend on strong reservoirs of young people and developing talent, looks brighter than never. We are getting closer than ever to a national professional women's league."

The irony of all this is that the women's league is sold and financed by CSB.

There is no doubt that the President of Canadian Soccer Ni...