The Canadian Soccer Association has laid out a “framework” for a long-awaited labour agreement with the men’s and women’s national teams.
But the deal hinges on a reworked deal with Canadian Soccer Business, whose investor group and board include owners of Canadian Premier League clubs. CSB handles marketing and broadcasting rights for Canada Soccer and the CPL, now in its sixth season.
“I am pleased to report that Canada Soccer and the Players’ Associations representing our two national teams have agreed to a collective bargaining agreement framework covering the period from June 1, 2024 to Dec. 31, 2027,” Canada Soccer CEO and Secretary-General Kevin Blue said in a statement Monday. “This framework is equitable for both programs and improves the overall financial position of Canada Soccer.”
Canadian soccer is currently estimated to receive about $4 million annually as a “guarantee of rights fee,” a figure that increases by about $500,000 annually through the 2026 World Cup.
“A critical step toward finalizing the CBA is the revision of the Canada Soccer Business Transaction that will be more favorable to Canadian soccer and put Canadian soccer on a solid financial footing going forward,” Blue said. “The new CBA framework depends on such revisions to the CSB Transaction.
“The leadership of the Canadian Soccer Association and the CSB are actively discussing a restructuring transaction and we look forward to reaching a positive conclusion soon.”
Players make ‘meaningful concessions’
Blue said the players had been “true partners throughout the negotiations”.
“They made meaningful concessions that allowed Canadian soccer to more effectively fund other important priorities,” he said.
Canada men’s national team coach Jesse Marsh confirmed there had been progress in responding to questions about the labor situation today.
“I think there’s a really strong alignment right now between the women’s team, the men’s team and (Canadian soccer),” he said, speaking virtually from Texas, where the team faces Mexico on Tuesday. “And I think they’re really close to finalizing or aligning everything for the CBA.
Marsch praised the men’s team for “making some sacrifices because they know how important 2026 (when Canada co-hosts the World Cup) is to the country.”
The Canadian Soccer Players Association, which represents the Canadian women’s national soccer team, has filed a $40 million lawsuit against 15 current and former board members of the Canadian Soccer Association, alleging “negligence and breach of fiduciary duty” in connection with the CSB contract.
The women’s team’s previous labour agreement expired at the end of 2021. They previously had a temporary labour agreement with the Canadian Soccer Association, but that agreement was tied to the men’s team’s negotiations given its pay equity provisions.
The No. 6 Canadian women’s tennis team formed a players’ association in 2016.
The No. 40 ranked men’s national soccer team is negotiating its first official contract following the formation of its own players’ association, the Canada Men’s National Soccer Team Players Association, in the summer of 2022.
The long and bitter labour dispute has seen strikes in the past, and in addition to the women’s lawsuit, has resulted in the resignation of former Canadian Soccer Association president Nick Bontis and walkouts by two teams.
The men’s team boycotted their World Cup warm-up against Panama in Vancouver in June 2022, while the women’s team briefly refused to train at the SheBelieves Cup before reluctantly returning to the field in early 2024 after the Canadian Soccer Association threatened legal action.
