Squads are convening, warm-up games are kicking off and players will soon be boarding flights to Australia and New Zealand with less than a month until the 2023 Women’s World Cup starts in Auckland. Yet with time ticking down to the opening game on July 20, at least two participating nations are still locked in significant disputes with their federations.
Much was made of Canada‘s threat to strike ahead of the SheBelieves Cup earlier this year, with the Olympic champions at an impasse with Canada Soccer that forced an overhaul behind the scenes and a lengthy mediation. The dispute didn’t solely hinge on direct remuneration, but the financial side of the row continues to be the sticking point months later. As Christine Sinclair, Canada’s 40-year-old captain and all-time-leading goal scorer, told the Canadian Press earlier this week, “We’re not at a point where we’re not getting on a plane, but time’s coming where we want it done so as players we’re not having to deal with it while we’re trying to prepare.”
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That plane in question departs for the World Cup on June 28, forcing a greater sense of urgency, though there is a question of what happens should a deal, or a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), still not be in place. As things stand, the team will likely need to accept a shorter-term deal that will cover them for the duration of the World Cup as well as the remainder of 2023.
It’s nothing new for Canada Women: The team haven’t had a proper deal in place since the last CBA expired at the end of 2021. There is, however, a sense of optimism from the Canadian camp that something could be brokered sooner rather than later, as interim general secretary Jason deVos said in a statement on Wednesday, “Our conversations are ongoing and we share the desire to get this resolved as soon as possible.”
The situation isn’t new, but it has rumbled on in the background for Canada’s men’s and women’s sides; both teams are unhappy at a lack of funding to the point that bankruptcy has been mentioned by DeVos, although the players seem to believe progress is being made and that the women can have a deal in place before the World Cup kicks off.
