Front Burner - As Canadian soccer rises: turmoil, strikes and fights

Episode Date: March 3, 2023

Canada women's national soccer team currently ranks as one of the top ten teams worldwide. Despite their track record of victory, the team’s future success is now at risk. As the FIFA Women’s World Cup approaches, the team’s engaged in a very visible fight with their bosses that has meant strikes, on-field protests, and the resignation of the president of Soccer Canada. The turmoil comes because of what the players say is a shocking lack of funding and very different treatment compared to the men’s team. But the issue goes deeper than the women’s fight. TSN senior correspondent, Rick Westhead, takes guest host Daemon Fairless through the national women’s team’s fight, the controversial business deal that may be behind the federation’s money woes, and what’s at stake for the sport in Canada. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. This is a CBC Podcast. Hi, I'm Damon Fairless, in for Jamie Poisson. To make history for Canada, she does! Canada win the gold medal for the first time!

Less than two years ago, in a stadium without an audience, thanks to COVID-19, Canada's national women's soccer team won gold at the Tokyo Olympics. It was the first time the women's team earned the top honour. And the first Olympic gold for Canada soccer since 1904. But it wasn't the first Olympic victory for the women's team. There was bronze at the 2016 Games in Rio. Oh Canada, you big red beauty. It's bronze again for Canada. They have beaten Brazil. And another bronze four years before that at the 2012 Games in London.

But despite all that, the team's future success is now at risk. And with less than six months to go before the FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, the team's engaged in a very visible fight with their bosses. That's meant strikes, on-field protests, and now the president of Soccer Canada has resigned. The turmoil comes because of what the players say is a shocking lack of funding and very different treatment compared to the men's team. It's pretty disgusting that we're having to ask just to be treated equally.

It's a fight that women all over the world have to partake in every single day. But quite frankly, we're really sick of it. And it's something that now I don't even get disappointed by anymore. I just get angry about because it's time. It's 2023. We won the damn Olympic Games, and we're about to go to the World Cup with a team who could win. Today, to get into all of that, I'm joined by Rick Westhead.

He's a senior correspondent with TSN, and he's been following the story. Hey, Rick, thanks for coming on. I'm happy to talk about this. Thank you. So, in the intro, I mentioned the on-field protest, and that happened a few weeks ago at the SheBleaves Cup in Orlando, Florida. The women's team announced it was going to go on strike. Can you take me back? What did that look like, that incident? Well, this was a fight over several issues. It was over pay equity. The women's national team players looked at the kind of treatment that the men's national team had last year in the lead up to the World Cup in Qatar. And it was also concerns over their budget this year. So this

is a women's World Cup year, as you said, in July and August in Australia and New Zealand. And the budget has been cut back drastically. We don't know exactly how much because Canada Soccer, even though it's a federally funded NSO, National Sport Organization, they don't disclose this level of detail in their financials. What we do know is that players say that the cutbacks have been so severe that, you know, for instance, in the late November, sorry, early November of 2022, the women's national team had two games scheduled against Brazil in Brazil. And so typically they would go down and have a camp before those games. Well, players on the women's team were told it's not happening. We don't have enough money. And the games were going to be canceled until they found a private donor who was willing to medalists are having to go begging to corporate Canada and private donations to be able to travel for a game. And fast forward, you know, and you have this frustration which boils over before Canada is supposed to be playing in the She Believes Cup in Florida. And so the, you know, Janine Becky and Christine Sinclair come on TSN and they do an interview and it's, it's startling to hear Christine Sinclair, who's been the flag bearer

for Canada soccer for so many years, say that she cannot wear that emblem and represent Canada soccer because she is so upset over the treatment of the national team. We've been trying to fight the fair fight. And in a way, it's gotten us nowhere. As a team, we've decided to take job action. And that's very hard to say as an athlete who wants to compete and wants to play, wants to represent Canada. But yeah, enough's enough at this point. Well, what happens is the players do wind up backing

down so a day after the women said that they were on strike they met with canada soccer and according to the women canada soccer said if you do not play we will sue your player association which you know represents the players in bargaining and we will also sue you individually for not playing. And so the players went back on the field. They wore, you know, purple shirts as a sign of gender equity, as a, you know, modest protest. Some of the players wore their Team Canada training shirts inside out as another sign of protest. But the point is, they got back on the field. Right. And they were not in a legal strike position. I'm told that they will be in coming days.

And at that tournament, just in terms of what was at stake for them. So there was the threat of a lawsuit. But as I understand it too, they hadn't been paid for their work in 2022, right? They still haven't, which is amazing. Like I sit here and I wonder how I would act if TSN hadn't paid me for all the work I did in 2022, or if CBC hadn't paid you for all the work you did a year ago. You can imagine why the frustrations would be so, you know, leading them to refuse to play for the national team. One of the things that was really amazing about that, too, at that tournament was that there was this amazing moment of solidarity from the U.S. team, right, for the Canadian team. Can you tell me about that?

Before they played, all the players kind of joined hands and met in the center of the pitch and, you know, had a moment. Canada's national women's team taking to the pitch in purple, a symbol of equality. Their latest protest in an ongoing and increasingly ugly fight to be treated and paid the same as the men. And that was striking because these two teams, powerhouses and Women's Soccer, are arch rivals. And so to see them united, you know, one team fighting a common enemy in the moment, that was striking. We're with them 100%. We obviously know, you know, exactly what they're going through, how difficult that is, how difficult it is to do all of that off the field and have to perform. Yeah, women on both the Japanese national team and England's national soccer team, they wore purple armbands in solidarity with Canada's team.

What has the reaction been like more broadly from the international soccer community? Well, I think there's been universal support for the Canadian women. I just wonder, like, what's it going to lead to? There still isn't a deal. You know, one of the issues that the Canadian women raised was that they did not have a send-off game scheduled before the World Cup. So there was no plans for Canada to play at home against an international opponent before going off to the Women's World Cup. There were also questions about, you know, again, their budget in the back half of this year. Remember, Canada still hasn't qualified for the Olympics in Paris next year. So even though we're going to the World Cup, there still would be qualification needed for

the defending Olympic champions to make it back to the Olympics next year. Where is that money going to come from? We don't know. And so, you know, you're right to point out that there has been really, really universal support and I would say public pressure internationally. What has that actually led to so far? But what has that actually led to so far? We're just at our wits end. This could be our most important fight that we ever have as national team players, and it's one we're determined to win.

I really think it sends a signal to every girl, every woman, that no matter how much you try, no matter how much you accomplish, you're still not important enough. Why is it any different for us? It's so incredibly unfair to the women and the staff and everyone that supports this team, works for this team, is a fan of this team. And we've had enough. It's way, way too far gone. So just to back up for a minute to the labor dispute earlier you mentioned one of the issues behind the she believes strike was the difference in how the men's team was treated in comparison to the women can you tell me more about that well like i like we talked about earlier we the women

have seen the kind of treatment that the men's national team received last year. You know, the Canadian men qualified for the World Cup in Qatar was the first time in 36 years that that had happened. And the players, friends and families all traveled to Qatar, to Doha for the tournament. You know, and now it's a Women's World Cup year. You know, even small, modest things at the same time as you're seeing the men's team players traveling business class. I talked to one of the players on the women's national team who told me that going to a camp, you know, in Vancouver from Europe, it was a double connection economy class. Wow. So there is a, there's a distinction there. Yeah. And I mean, I think that part of it is that there's a difference in spending and what

they have to spend, right? So like in their financial statements from December 2021, Canada Soccer lists its expenses for the men's teams at around $11 million and at about $5.1 million for the women's teams. And I understand that Christine Sinclair has said that about half of that $5.1 million came from the On the podium program. So how has Canada soccer justified that difference in spending and in funds? Well, they don't. Canada soccer is not transparent about, you know, the, these line items when you ask, and I've been asking again and again for detailed expenditures. How much did Canada Soccer spend on board members and spouses of board members going to Qatar for the Men's World Cup?

And I don't have an answer. How much was the budget for the women's national team and the men's national team last year? And how much was the actual spend? No answer. And the same for this year. So, you know, we, transparency is sort of this, we hear this again and again, but really that would solve so many problems. And perhaps it would actually be something where you could actually start to rebuild trust, which has been completely lost between both national teams and

Canada soccer right now. The players on both teams have been asking to see the numbers, right? They want to know where the money's going. We're at a time when soccer, Canada's never done better than this internationally. And it's, you see tangible changes in the way that corporate Canada is excited and trying to market off this as well. Canada Soccer has 14 national partners right now. I'm told they're about to add a 15th. These are companies, you know, Nike and Gatorade and CIBC and Allstate Insurance, which are surely paying millions of dollars a year. And so the question is, where's that money going? And every time that the players have said, we want to see that, they don't get an answer. I want to get into the

finances and the transparency issues. But I'm hoping before we do that, I just want to go back for a second. And so the women's team isn't alone in having issues with Canada soccer. Just months before the World Cup in Qatar, the men's team also went on strike. A compensation dispute between players and Canada soccer management resulting in the cancellation of an exhibition match with Panama that was supposed to take place here. What were the men's team protesting? Because Canada qualified for the World Cup, there's a $10 million bonus that Canada Soccer earned from FIFA. And so the question has been, how much of that money should go to the national team players? And how much of that should go to the federation? And that's really the root of the dispute, which to this day,

has still not been resolved. We're now into March 2023, and the players and Canada Soccer still have not reached an agreement on how their qualification money for the World Cup last year should be divided. They're also at odds over something called name, image, and likeness rights, NIL. Basically, a player's NIL rights are bargained so that a company that does a deal with Canada Soccer can then use players in their advertising. So, you know, CIBC has a deal with Canada Soccer. They want to be able to showcase Jonathan David and Christine Sinclair and Alphonso Davies and Janine Becky in their marketing, right? To show these are the players that you all know and love and we're aligned with them.

Well, Canada Soccer still does not have an agreement in place with its men's national team. It was bad enough that during the World Cup in Qatar, Alphonso Davies refused to wear the CIBC-branded training kit that Canada had so that there'd be no photographs taken of him wearing anything that was branded CIBC. So I want to get into what Candace Ocker said about all this. So I want to get into what Candace Ocker said about all this. Back when the men's team made their proposal, Federation's now former president Nick Bontas said the organization couldn't afford the players' demands. If we as an association only had the men's team and the women's team to take care of and nothing else,

we could still not afford this proposal. It is untenable as written. But both the men's and the women's team have been really successful now. So where is Canada Soccer's money going? Well, there's the rub. This is the question that I think, if we can get an answer to it, would lead to a solution. Nick Bontas has said a lot of things. He spoke at a press conference last year after the men's team went on strike, pleading with them to get back on the field. But one thing that neither he nor Canada Soccer's board of directors or anyone else with the organization will do is actually explain where the money's going. To answer that, we have to go back to 2017. At the time, Canada Soccer was trying to figure out a way to work with the United States and Mexico to host the 2026 World Cup.

One World Cup held in not one, not two, but three countries. A signing ceremony confirming the United States, Mexico, and Canada will submit a joint bid to host the 2026 World Cup, the first time ever three countries could simultaneously host football's standout tournament. There was one problem. To host a men's World Cup, a country needs to have a men's professional domestic league, according to FIFA, the governing body for international soccer. So the idea was hatched to start a league in Canada called the Canadian Premier League. made an appeal to potential investors in this league was that they would be paid out down the road for corporate sponsorship sales right and the way they did this was by forming a company called canada soccer business we'll call it csb and so csb it's owned by the same people who own

the canadian premier league teams And the deal that was signed between Canada Soccer and CSB sees Canada Soccer, the federation, paid a flat rate of between three and four million dollars a year. And on the flip side, Canada Soccer Business, the CPL, gets to keep all of the revenue from media rights for the Canadian national teams and all of the sponsorship revenue. So all of the 14 national sponsors that Canada soccer has, all of the money from those deals goes to CSB. So Canada soccer governs the sport nationally is funded by public tax

dollars, but CSB that's privately owned, it's making money off the men CSB that's privately owned. It's making money off the men's and women's national leagues. And it pays a set amount of whatever, three or $4 million a year to Canada soccer for that. Right. But the money it's making off of those sponsorship deals, that money is going to the Canadian premier league. Yes. And I think it's important to point out, like in what Canada soccer business and the CPL say, is that this was the best deal that Canada soccer was going to get. There were no networks falling over themselves to sign contracts with Canada soccer. You know, Alphonso Davies had not exploded as a global superstar yet. You know,

it was unclear at that point, unlikely, that Canada was going to qualify for the Men's World Cup that we just had in Qatar. So the idea that Canada would get as good as it has so fast was still something that people did not appreciate at that time. The problem, though, in this contract, according to the people that I've talked to, is signing away your rights for 19 years oh that's the issue yeah right and not having any ability to renegotiate or trigger an out clause and you know say hey let's take another look at this because obviously you guys are bringing in a lot more money than anyone anticipated that you would right so so

part of it is that the ground has shifted, right? Like Canadian soccer, men's and women's has stepped up in the world arena in a way that, you know, I think it's fair to say nobody could have predicted. However, there were no off ramps built into this deal. And I understand that there's no going back on this deal for a term of, what, 19 years or so? That's right. It's a 10-year deal to start with. And then CPL, the private company, has an exclusive option to extend it for another nine years.

This deal can be in place through 2037 if the private company and the CPL want it to be. Now, do we have any sense of how much money is being made here? I know it sounds like Candice Sarkar three or four million dollars a year, but what is being pulled in? How much money is being pulled in by CSB on these sponsorship deals? Do we have a sense of that? run national sport organizations, and I've asked them how much they would estimate Canada soccer's collective corporate sponsorship revenue would be, they've estimated somewhere between $15 and $20 million a year. That's just a guess. It's an educated guess. We may be closer to getting answers though. empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. know their own household income. That's not a typo. 50%. That's because money is confusing. In my new book and podcast, Money for Couples, I help you and your partner create a financial vision together. To listen to this podcast, just search for Money for Couples.

Canada soccer president Nick Bontas stepped down from his role on Monday earlier this week. What led up to that? Well, to hear Nick Bontas say, and he put a statement out, he just figured that this was something that there was a change needed and that there was new blood needed in the negotiations between the federation and the two national teams. The truth is that if he had not resigned, he was likely to be fired. Hours before he announced his resignation, something called the President's Council, which is a collective of the provincial and territorial soccer associations in Canada, they sent Nick

Bontas a letter saying that they had lost confidence in him and said that if he did not resign, they would call for a special meeting to seek his ouster. So he preemptively acted on that, it sounds like. Yes. So Canada soccer then announced on Wednesday, former Olympic track athlete Charmaine Crooks will take over as interim president. She's the first woman and also incidentally, she's the first person of color to lead Canada soccer. Do you think her election will satisfy the players calling for a leadership change? I'm not sure because Charmaine Crooks has been within the board of Canada soccer for many years. And so she was there at the time when this controversial deal with Canada Soccer Business was signed. She was there last fall when the Canadian women's team was being told, we don't have enough money for you to go play your games in Brazil.

And she's been there in recent months when they've agreed on a budget for the women's national team, which has been so drastically cut. You know, I would like to ask Charmaine Crooks, what did you say to the board? What did you say to Nick Montes? How much of a fight did you put up on behalf of the women's national team saying, no, it's not acceptable. We cannot cut this team's budget. We have to find the money somewhere. You know, people are calling for answers. Okay, Rick, looking ahead, starting next week, this issue is going to go before the Parliamentary Heritage Committee in Ottawa. And we've seen a few hearings with other sports. What do you think is going to come out of this one? I think it's going to be very interesting. I don't know that a lot of Canadians appreciated what their standing committee on Canadian Heritage was before last year. And last year,

the same committee called Hockey Canada's top officials to testify, right, about the organization's response to a particular sexual assault allegation in 2018 in London, Ontario, but also just more broadly how the organization responded to allegations of sexual assault and abuse and harassment. And so that committee on March 9th is going to hear from four players, Christine Sinclair, Sophie Schmidt, Janine Becky, and Quinn. And they have all agreed to travel to Ottawa and testify in person. And it should be very telling. Following that meeting on March 20th, I understand that Nick Bontas, even though he has resigned, will still be summoned to testify about what's happened at the Federation. Earl Cochran, the General Secretary of Canada Soccer,

will also likely be called to testify. And I think one of the basic questions that these MPs will be asking the leaders of the Federation under oath is, where is the money? And I think we may finally get some answers. And the Heritage Committee has the power to request the documentation that the players haven't been successful in getting out of them. Am I understanding that correctly? Yes, you are. The Heritage Committee actually has remarkable powers. I didn't appreciate this until I started reporting on the committee last year. As we talked about, this controversial contract between Canada Soccer and CSB was negotiated in 2017. Well, the Heritage Committee this week ordered Canada Soccer to turn over all of the board meeting records from 2017. So they want to see what those records show about the kind of conversations that went on in the Canada Soccer Boardroom in negotiating that deal.

And it'll be interesting to find out, for one, how well these records were kept, which leads us to another question of accountability, right? Like a national sport organization, if they're receiving taxpayer dollars, it should be insisted that they are keeping good records. But what this committee also has the power to do is to pierce attorney-client privilege. So if this was a lawsuit, Canada Soccer would be able to hold back a number of documents saying, well, this was communication between the Federation and our lawyers over this dispute. lawyers over this dispute. Well, the Heritage Committee can demand documents like that, even if they are between lawyers and the client. So they're able to get a lot of information. It's up to the MPs who are on that committee, ultimately, to decide how much of it to put into the public domain. So Rick, I'm curious about what your sense of how the Federation moves forward is.

It's a good question where this goes from now. The contract with Canada Soccer Business and Canada Soccer is in place. And so for the foreseeable future, the Federation can count on that guaranteed $3 to $4 million a year, unless Canada Soccer Business can be convinced to reopen the contract. And maybe that'll happen. Maybe the professional league and CSB will see the damage that this is doing to the brand of soccer in Canada and say, it's not worth it. You know, we need to go back to the table. We need to give a little bit more to try to get everybody back on the same page. We need to give a little bit more to try to get everybody back on the same page.

It'll be interesting to see whether Charmaine Crooks can somehow earn the trust of players on both national teams. So, an interesting summer coming ahead. I mean, we're at a time when we should be celebrating soccer. And, you know, you've heard for years about how it's the largest participation sport in Canada. Maybe one day it could challenge even hockey in terms of, you know, being our country's most popular sport. We heard about the launch of a professional women's soccer league in Canada. And so all kinds of indications are, this is great. The sport is growing here. There is so much to be optimistic about, but I suppose that's only true if these people can get out of their own way and figure out a way to get these contracts signed and get players on side.

Well, as you say, an interesting summer's ahead. That's right. Rick, thanks so much for coming on. My pleasure. Rick, thanks so much for coming on. My pleasure. So Thursday evening, after we finished recording this episode, Canada Soccer announced it had reached a deal in principle with the women's national team. The interim funding agreement covers the players' pay for 2022.

It doesn't address many of the other issues we've talked about, like budget cuts and World Cup prep. And though the Federation didn't go into details, Canada Soccer says the deal was based on one with the men's team last summer. But the ordeal is not over yet. Canada Soccer still needs to negotiate an overarching collective bargaining agreement with both the men's and women's national teams. So that means the deal in principle they reached today, it could change. All right, that's us for this week. Front Burner was produced this week by Shannon Higgins, Rafferty Baker, Derek Vanderwyk, Lauren Donley, Matt Amha, and Jody Martinson.

Our sound design was by Sam McNulty and Mackenzie Cameron. Our intern is Abby Hughes. Our music is by Joseph Shabison. Our executive producer is Nick McCabe-Locos. And our hosts this week were Jody Martinson and me, Damon Fairless. Thanks for listening to FrontBurner. We'll be back next week. For more CBC Podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.