The 38th-ranked Canadians were set to host No. 61 Panama on Sunday before kicking off CONCACAF Nations League play against No. 79 Curacao in Vancouver on June 9.The Canadian Press
Canada’s men’s soccer team has refused to play a scheduled World Cup warm-up match against Panama amid a contract dispute between the players and the sport’s national governing body.
Canada Soccer confirmed the match, scheduled for Sunday at Vancouver’s B.C. Place, had been cancelled less than two hours before kickoff.
The Canadian players issued a statement Sunday afternoon saying they decided not to play the game because the negotiations over a new deal had been “unnecessarily prolonged.”
“It’s time we take a stand for the future of soccer in Canada,” the statement said.
The players said they want more transparency from Canada Soccer, changes in the organization’s leadership, an equitable compensation structure for the men’s and women’s teams, and World Cup compensation that includes 40 per cent of prize money and a “comprehensive friends and family package” for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
“We want to work together with our organization, but the relationship has been strained for years,” the statement said. “And now, Canada Soccer has disrespected our team and jeopardized our efforts to raise the standards and effectively advance the game in Canada.”
The men’s team has not played on home soil since it beat Jamaica 4-0 in Toronto on March 27 and clinched a spot in the World Cup. It’s been even longer since the squad played in Vancouver, with its last appearance coming in March 2019, when Canada beat French Guiana 4-1 in CONCACAF Nations League qualifying.
The 38th-ranked Canadians are scheduled to kick off CONCACAF Nations League play against No. 79 Curacao in Vancouver on June 9.
“We want to apologize to our fans,” the players said in their statement. “Playing at home with your support is everything to us. We hope Canada Soccer will take decisive steps to work with our team so we can be back on the field for our match (in Vancouver) on June 9.”
A pair of training sessions scheduled for Friday and Saturday had previously been scrapped due to the contract dispute.
Canada Soccer issued a statement late Saturday night saying it is “currently in discussions with their national team players pertaining to fair and equitable player compensation ahead of the FIFA World Cup period.”