Shut Up and Dribble: Canada Soccer Needs to Start Caring About Their Team

What is the Problem?

SportsColumnErika Tremblay — Published October 23, 2022 4 minutes

Currently, both the men’s and women’s teams are fighting to bring the game to another level in the country. Canada Soccer hasn't brought them the respect they deserve or helped them financially. The friendly matches can only be streamed on OneSoccer and cannot be seen on any TV channel in Canada. How can we expect this sport to become more popular in the country when the only way to watch the national teams’ matches are through a paid streaming service? 

The recent success of the men’s national team is expected to have a major impact on the development of soccer in the country. The players want the opportunity to grow the sport nationally for the next generation who has the same dream as them, but this is not what Canada Soccer seems to want. 

Look at every other major sport in Canada: they can be watched anywhere and easily through cable, free streaming services, and other media such as the radio. You never hear someone say that they could not find the hockey game on TV, but it is the case for soccer games. For the sport to grow, not only do we need to see both teams succeed, but the younger generations need to see them play to be able to see how fun soccer can be. We need better exposure so that young players like Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David become who they want to be instead of foreign players like Cristiano Ronaldo.

Over the Summer, the men’s team refused to play a scheduled World Cup warmup game against Panama because of the contract dispute between the players and Canada Soccer. The match was cancelled two hours before kickoff. The men’s team is asking for 40 per cent of the World Cup qualifying money to be spread across every player on the team. This demand has not been accepted by the organization as they feel this would make them lose money. Aren’t the players supposed to benefit from their recent success? It is the first time since 1985 that the men’s team makes it to the World Cup. Not only were they able to do it, but they finished first in the Concacaf World Cup Qualifying. They proved to everyone that Canada could become a place where soccer can compete with the best of the best from across the world. 

On Sept. 27, Canada was playing a friendly match against 13th ranked Uruguay. This match was a way for soccer fans in Canada to watch their team face a new and harder challenge ahead of the World Cup in Qatar. Since not a lot of Canadians aren’t subscribed to OneSoccer, they could not watch the game because they had exclusive rights to the game, and since the game was taking place in Slovakia, it was the only way to watch the game for most people in Canada. The pre-game coverage was working perfectly until a banner with the company logo came on the screen. Nobody saw the kickoff. “We are experiencing technical difficulties,” said the message on the screen. It wasn’t until the 17th minute that the feed came back. Canada was already down 1-0. Luckily for soccer fans across Canada, TSN has the rights for the World Cup and no problem should occur during. 

If Canada Soccer aspires for the sport to become more popular in the country, they should make sure that every match played by both the men and women’s national team can be seen on TV channels across the country, and not only available to watch through a streaming service. This would show that they care about their team and the visibility of the sport in the country. As soccer fans across the country will always find a way to watch the matches live. A new audience will never be brought into this sport because it is hard to find a place to watch. 

Another sign that Canada Soccer neglects their national teams is the fact that the men’s team will not have a new jersey for the World Cup. Whilst most countries playing in the World Cup will have a new jersey design for the event, Canada will be playing with their old uniforms. The organization has made a bad deal with Nike that will forbid them to have something great. It is the first time since 1986 that the men’s national soccer team makes it to the World Cup. It is not the first time that Canada Soccer has had disappointing news for the fans and the players. 

The players have been fighting with their organization for a while now. They have been underpaid and fighting for a better wage, one that will take into account their recent success. They also want better transparency within Canada Soccer and a change in leadership. As for the women’s team, they want equal pay and will not settle for less. Although a lot of problems are currently resurfacing, the players see the talks between the men’s team and Canada Soccer as a positive step towards equal pay for both teams and for further negotiation.