Purple protest as Canada players take pay dispute to the pitch

The team’s protest is the latest escalation in its dispute with Canada FA over pay equity issues.

Canada women’s football team players wear purple t-shirts in protest against pay disparity against Canada FA before their match against the USWNT at the SheBelieves Cup in Orlando, Florida, on February 16, 2023. 

The Canadian women’s football team took its dispute with the national association onto the pitch on Thursday by wearing purple jerseys with “Enough is Enough” written on the front ahead of its SheBelieves Cup opener against the United States.

The team’s protest is the latest escalation in its dispute with Canada FA over pay equity issues.

“Tonight, our players will be wearing purple as a symbol of protest,” said the Canadian Players Association in a statement.

“Considering the current circumstances, our players will continue to wear purple until our association has standard in place that ensure equal treatment and opportunity.”

The Canadians wore the purple t-shirts during warmups at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Florida before changing into their traditional red kit but wearing purple tape on their wrists.

Purple has historically been associated with efforts to achieve gender equality.

Canada lost the match 2-0.

The Olympic champion had boycotted training last Saturday while demanding immediate changes but reversed course later that day as Canada FA called the team’s strike unlawful and threatened legal action.

The squad said it would play under protest at the four-nation SheBelieves Cup.

In a media call on Tuesday, the players said the “disgusting” discrepancy between the Canada men’s and women’s football programmes became obvious last year in Qatar, where Canada’s men made their first World Cup appearance in 37 years in November.

Canada FA spent $11 million on the men’s programme in 2021 and $5.1 million on the women.

Canada FA has said it has a “proven track record” of supporting the women’s game and that pay equity was “at the core” of ongoing player negotiations.

USWMNT forward Mallory Swanson scored both goals against Canada on Thursday.

She connected with a cross from Alex Morgan for a stunning finish in the seventh minute before slotting home in the 34th minute following a defensive mistake from Canada.

Canada captain Christine Sinclair said the team were “mentally exhausted”.

“Either we’re fighting for everything and come out on fire or we come out flat. And I think you saw those first 10, 15 minutes, we came out flat,” Sinclair said.

“I think we looked like a team that was tired, a team that’s mentally exhausted, coming up against a team, I mean, they’re defending World Cup champions for a reason and you have to be at your best to compete with them. And we weren’t tonight.”

The Canadians will face Brazil on Sunday before taking on Japan three days later.

Brazil defeated Japan 1-0 in the tournament’s opening match, Debinha scoring the only goal.