Canadian women soccer players defiant in wake of shameful treatment by Canada Soccer

This is a column by Shireen Ahmed, who writes opinion for CBC Sports.  For more information about  CBC's Opinion section , please see the  FAQ .

News of the Canadian women's soccer team's job action sent sports media into a tizzy equal to the news of Toronto's mayor quitting due to an extramarital affair, and the prime minister permitting UFOs to be shot down in Canadian airspace.

Last Friday, the women's team, the Olympic champions from Tokyo, announced that they were taking "job action" ahead of the SheBelieves Cup in Florida this week. But they were quickly forced into returning to the field under threat of legal action by Canada Soccer, the organization that runs the team. All this just days before a key tune-up tournament to the Women's World Cup this summer where the team is a strong contender.

Prior to the news, I had naively thought the team was in Florida simply preparing to play against the U.S., Japan and Brazil. Canada, ranked No. 7 in the world, plays No.1 U.S. on Thursday. I assumed the focus would be on the competition, exactly what the players should be focusing on. 

But I was wrong. And I don't blame them.

Instead, they are embroiled in a (I put this very mildly) tête-à-tête with Soccer Canada. After sending in a list of demands to the federation and hearing nothing, they released the statement on Friday afternoon.

"Enough was enough a long time ago," they said.

The time is now, we are taking job action. <a href="https://t.co/QbVbhTcdDU">pic.twitter.com/QbVbhTcdDU</a>

And the proverbial doodoo hit the fan. 

The soccer federation has cut a lot of the budget for 2023, including money for staff and participants for the women's program. Ahead of the Olympics, the women's team (CanWNT) had