The Olympic gold medal-winning Canada head coach, Bev Priestman, is understood to be considering her future with the national team as the impasse between the players and federation over pay equity issues and budget cuts rumbles on.
Priestman, who led the Canada women’s national team to a first major tournament victory at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, is considering her options for beyond the World Cup, which kicks off in July. It is believed that the 36-year-old, who was assistant to Phil Neville when he was head coach of England’s Lionesses, is considering a move into club football and that a number of clubs have expressed an interest.
The situation between the players and Canada Soccer has deteriorated in recent weeks, with the Canadian Soccer Players’ Association (CSPA) releasing a statement on Friday which said they are “outraged and deeply concerned” by reported funding cuts. The team captain and most capped player in the world, Christine Sinclair, tweeted “enough is enough” and said she could not represent the federation on the pitch until the situation is resolved. The decision of the players to step back prompted Canada Soccer to threaten legal action against them.
Players said Canada Soccer threatened to “not only take legal action to force us back to the pitch but would consider taking steps to collect what could be millions of dollars in damages from our players association and from each of the individual players currently in camp” if they did not commit to playing in the SheBelieves Cup hosted by the US this month.
The England captain, Leah Williamson, expressed solidarity with the Canadian players before the Arnold Clark Cup kicks off on Thursday. “One of the main issues for women’s football, for women’s sport in general, is the lack of security there is,” she said. “We’ve got to a place in England where we have progressive conversations all the time, it’s not about just being content with where we’re at. First and foremost, there’s an open conversation all the time and if we believe that we’re missing out on something or if we believe that our circumstances could be better then we’d be able to voice them. That’s most important.
“I feel like there’s a communication breakdown across women’s sport, but how can we have those progressions without it? I’m obviously grateful to be part of the FA and the way that we’ve had communication and been able to move forward to a place where we can perform. That’s all women athletes are asking for, to have the right amount of resources to do their jobs to the best of their abilities. We stand with those players. Every time those issues come up it’s not just one team, it’s a collective discussion and fight for equality.”
