OTTAWA, Feb. 11 (dpa/EP) –

Canada’s women’s soccer team captain, Christine Sinclair, has confirmed the national team will go on strike this week over a funding shortfall which she says will compromise her ability to perform at the This year’s Women’s World Cup in Oceania.

Less than a week before the Olympic champions face the United States, Brazil and Japan in the SheBelieves Cup, Sinclair and Janine Beckie have appeared on Canadian sports channel TSN to say they will not be participating in any sports activities. team, including matches, until the conflict is resolved.

The interview came after Canada’s men’s and women’s teams released statements complaining about cuts to the women’s team by the Canadian Soccer Association and demanding answers from the federation.

“Some of us trained today with our shirts inside out, but as we haven’t heard from the federation since we filed our lawsuits, they haven’t even had the courtesy to contact us to set up an emergency call, as a team . . we decided to take union action,” Sinclair said.

“From this moment on, we will not participate in any activities of the Canadian Soccer Association until this is resolved, whether in training or in games. It is very difficult to say in as an athlete who wants to compete, who wants to represent Canada, but that’s enough,” he said.

Meanwhile, Beckie, a former Manchester City striker, insisted the players will not move until everything is resolved. “From this moment on, we will not be training, we will not be attending rallies. We will not be taking part in any planned activities with the national team in the near future. If we arrive next Thursday afternoon and this is not solved, we will not take the against the United States in the SheBelieves Cup”, he underlined.

“The men’s and women’s teams are acting together against a federation that has mistreated us for too long, we have been too nice for too long,” he added.

The interview came shortly after team members released a statement through the Canadian Soccer Players Association, saying preparations for the upcoming World Cup “are jeopardized by the continued inability of the federation to support its national teams”.

According to the statement, the Canadian Soccer Association has reduced the time spent at gatherings, as well as the number of players and staff invited. They have also been told there will be no home friendlies until the World Cup, which kicks off in Australia and New Zealand in July.

“We are tired, tired of constantly having to fight for fair and equitable treatment and for a program that gives us the opportunity to achieve what we know this team is capable of achieving for Canada. This lack of support threatens to reverse the progress we have made as a footballing nation and send us back to oblivion. For our team to continue to be strong on a global scale, we need a federation that supports us at the level expected of us: on a global scale,” they said in a statement.

Furthermore, they point out that “significant amounts of money and resources have been invested in our men’s team to ensure there are no gaps in their preparation for the Men’s World Cup 2022”, while that the women’s team is invited to play without the same back.

Celtic right-back Alistair Johnson has released a statement from the Canadian men’s team backing his team-mates’ position.

The statement said the Canadian Soccer Association has “systematically rejected or blatantly ignored” requests for financial information from the Players’ Association to support its claims that it needs to make program cuts, or to explain where she went to stop the sponsors’ money. .

“We now know that due to financial and other mismanagement, the federation claims it does not have the funds to provide women’s national team players with the working conditions and matches they need to prepare. at the 2023 Women’s World Cup. This is outrageous and demands an immediate and urgent response,” they said.

For its part, the Canadian Soccer Association explained that “pay equity” is “at the center of the ongoing negotiations with the players”. “After months of negotiations with our women’s national team players and their legal advisors, the federation has already issued a retroactive payment by mutual agreement,” he said.

“We have also informed our women’s team that the ‘Friends and Family’ programme, awarded to our men’s team in Qatar, will be replicated for our women during the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. This is a real change. , but there is still a long way to go. To continue this important work, we need a collective agreement that allows us to plan for the future in a responsible way,” he said.

“Several months ago, we presented an equity-based proposal to our national teams and their lawyers, and we are still awaiting a definitive response to the terms of this proposal,” he said, assuring that they will meet this weekend in Orlando (United States) with the players to “continue the conversations”. “We want this resolved, for our two national teams and for soccer in Canada,” he concluded.