Employment contract with Canada Football at hand: captain

PORTLAND, Oregon –

Canada captain Christine Sinclair says she is confident Canada’s women’s national team will reach a last-minute wage deal with the federation before the players leave for the Women’s World Cup.

“It’s not going to be a long-term deal, but it will at least cover this year,” said Sinclair, who labeled the deal imminent before the team leaves for Australia on Monday for a pre-World Cup camp.

Both the men’s and women’s national teams have been negotiating new contracts with Canada Soccer for over a year. Sinclair is one of the players who have led the team in the fight for fair pay and treatment.

“Our discussions with both of our national teams are ongoing and we share a desire to resolve this as soon as possible,” Canada Soccer general secretary Jason deVos said in a statement to The Associated Press on Saturday.

The friction between the two sides became visible earlier this year when the players threatened to boycott the SheBelieves Cup in the United States. Canada Soccer threatened legal action and the players agreed, but wore purple T-shirts during pregame ceremonies that read “Enough is Enough”.

“The Americans have been through it. It’s a long, slow, long process to get what we deserve,” Sinclair said. “I have every confidence that it will happen in the next few days. I have no doubt that it will happen.”

The Canadian players have asked for a contract that would pay the men’s and women’s teams fairly, similar to the landmark agreement the US national teams made with US Soccer last year.

In March, Canada Soccer and the team entered into an interim funding deal to compensate the women for the previous year after players said they had gone unpaid.

The players have also said they should cut training camp days and full camp windows, as well as reduce the number of players and staff invited to camps. They were told that there would be no home games scheduled for the World Cup.

Sinclair spoke after her club team, the Portland Thorns, beat the Washington Spirit 4-2 in the National Women’s Soccer League on Friday night. It was the last club match for international players before the World Cup, which runs from July 20 to August. 20 in Australia and New Zealand.

Canada is participating in the most important football tournament for the eighth time. The team opens against Nigeria on July 21 in Melbourne.

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AP football: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer And https://twitter.com/AP–Sports