Players from Canada strike and refuse to face Panama in a private match, demanding a share of prize money related to 2022 World Cup qualifiers. The last time Canada played the World Cup was in 1986, from Case Saltillo – players from the Portugal national team went on strike during training, demanding an increase game prizes and reforms in the federation.
In a statement, Canadians, including Stephen Eustáquio, from FC Porto, and Steven Vitória, from Moreirense, acknowledged their dissatisfaction with the behavior of the federation, which has been dragging on the matter for months. Faced with the ineffectiveness of the organism, they decided to cancel the duel with Panama, apologizing to the supporters in a statement, after refusing to train for the last two days.
At stake, according to the players, is the evolution of soccer in Canada, as well as the honours equivalent to the women’s national team, a FIFA ranking of six and a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. “We want leadership that can optimize the positive moments of selection and that generate income to be used in the evolution of modalities in this country. Fair distribution of income with women’s elections, including an equal percentage under the participation prize in the Women’s League Development World Cup and participation prize covering 40% of the income from World Cup participation,” read a list of demands released by Canadian media.
In the same document, the players claim that they started negotiations with the federation back in March, but it was only now, on June 4, that they got their first response. “Football Canada executives [federação] strangely decided to take a vacation and as a result, the negotiation process took too long,” they added.
The Canadian Federation only informs that the meeting with Panama has been cancelled. The team’s next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, in Vancouver, against Curaçao, counting the CONCACAF Nations League.
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