The Canadian team will not attend the match which was scheduled for Sunday evening, with Panama. The current squad, which includes FC Porto’s Stephen Eustáquio and Moreirense’s Steven Vitória, have gone on strike and presented a series of demands, which they hope will be met. The cancellation was confirmed by Canada Soccer on its social media. “The match scheduled for this June 5 has been cancelled. More details will be provided to fans who have purchased tickets,” it read. According to journalist Rick Westhead, “the team went on strike over player pay issues”. On his Twitter account, the journalist published a letter of demands which, he assures, was presented by the team.

Among other things, the Canadian team is asking for the following: leadership that can maximize the positive moment of the team and generate sponsorship revenue, to be used for the evolution of the sport in the country; a fair distribution of income with the women’s team, including the same percentage of participation prizes in the World Cup they will play; the development of the national women’s football league; participation prizes comprising 40% of the revenue from participation in Mundial’2022; the inclusion of more former players in the Canada Soccer structure.

In the published letter, the team apologizes to its supporters for the cancellation of the match, as well as to the federation, players, technical staff, staff and Panamanian supporters.

“It is a great privilege and a great responsibility to represent and play for our country. We have acted for your defence, for ours and for future generations”, they conclude.