The Canada women’s national team has gone on strike over budget cuts, equal pay issues and lack of support from Canada Soccer and will boycott the SheBelieves Cup if the issues are not resolved.

The SheBelieves Cup is set to kick off next Thursday. Canada stars Janine Beckie and Christine Sinclair told TSN’s Rick Westhead that the team will not take part in any activities until the issue is resolved.

In a statement on Friday, the players said that they are “outraged and deeply concerned” about the “significant” cuts to both national team programs in 2023. Pointing to the popularity of both teams, they called out Canada Soccer for failing to provide adequate funding for preparation ahead of the World Cup, which begins in six months.

“Now that our World Cup is approaching, the Women’s National Team players are being told to prepare to perform at a world-class level without the same level of support that was received by the Men’s National Team in 2022,” the statement reads. “This is an unacceptable burden to put on the shoulders of our players.”

The players said that they’ve had to cut training camp days, players and staff allotments and limit youth teams’ activities “all while we continue to face immense uncertainty about compensation.”

Additionally, the players said they were told by Canada Soccer that there will not be a send-off game for the team ahead of the World Cup.

“We have been told, quite literally, that Canada Soccer cannot adequately fund the Women’s National Team,” they write, “and they have waited to tell us this until now, when we are less than six months from the World Cup.”

The players association said that if the problems are not fixed, they believe Canada Soccer should consider new leadership.

“If Canada Soccer is not willing or able to support our team, new leadership should be found.,” the statement said. “Despite our strong track record of success and history-making achievements for more than a decade, we continue to be told there is not enough money to adequately fund our program and our youth teams.”

Canada’s men’s national team issued a statement on Friday in support of the women.

“The Canadian Men’s National Soccer Team players are, once again, deeply disappointed by the actions of Canada Soccer, and wholeheartedly support the Women’s National Team players’ statement made this afternoon about completely unsatisfactory preparation conditions for this summer’s World Cup,” they wrote.

In a statement, Canada Soccer said that they will be meeting with the women’s national team in Orlando alongside legal counsel, as had been previously agreed upon.

“Pay equity for our Women’s National Team is at the core of our ongoing player negotiations. Canada Soccer will not agree to any deal without it,” the statement read.

The reigning Olympic gold medalists, Canada is currently ranked sixth in the world and is one of the favorites to win the World Cup in New Zealand and Australia.

A professional women’s soccer league is coming to Canada, with former Canada women’s national team player Diana Matheson and current captain Christine Sinclair leading the way.

The unnamed league is expected to begin play in April 2025, according to CBC, with each team featuring at least one women’s national team player.

Matheson and business partner Thomas Gilbert will launch the league under their venture Project 8 Sports Inc., and they have has founding partners in bank CIBC and Air Canada. Two clubs have been confirmed: Vancouver Whitecaps FC and the Calgary Foothills.

Sinclair, Canada’s all-time international scoring leader, is on board as an advisor. Sinclair plays with the NWSL’s Portland Thorns and recently re-signed with the club on a one-year contract.

The league is looking for eight teams. Expected buy-in for clubs is between $8 and $10 million, and salaries are expected to be competitive with other professional leagues. The goal is to bring home roughly half of the more than 100 Canadians playing abroad.

Stephanie Labbé, former Canada WNT star and current Whitecaps FC general manager of women’s soccer, spoke with CBC about the club becoming one of the first teams in the league.

“Whitecaps FC are thrilled to be one of the first teams to sign on to a professional women’s soccer league in Canada,” Labbé said. “The creation of this league is something we have been advocating for over many years, and to be part of seeing it come to fruition is truly exciting.”

For Sinclair, who captained the national team to an Olympic gold medal in 2021, the league has been a long time coming.

“I really thought that 2012 was going to be a turning point for this country in bringing professional soccer home,” she said. “But it never happened. And there’s still no pathways within this country.

“We’ve inspired Canadians on the podium. Now it’s time to actually make an impactful difference here in Canada.”

For Matheson, having the right owners involved will be key.

“One of the things is having more diversity to begin with — more women, diverse voices to begin with, more players voices to begin with. And that’s top to bottom. I want women owners, women in the executive, women’s player voices as part of this,” Matheson said.

Sinclair alluded to the abuse issues in the NWSL, which have roiled that league over the last two seasons.

“[It’s] unfortunate just how women are treated and taken advantage of,” Sinclair said. “That’s why we need women owners. We need female executives.”

The league will also look to ensure protection for players, particularly in the wake of reports of abuse and sexual misconduct in the NWSL.

“It’s training, it’s vetting, it’s independent reporting systems,” Matheson said. “And for us, that’s going to mean working with those groups that are really good at doing those things.”