The president said that he will ensure the equality of the women's national teams.
Soccer Canada president Nick Bontis predicts ongoing labor negotiations with Canada's men's and women's teams will lead to an "epic, historic pay equity agreement." The association's collective bargaining agreement with the women's team expired last December. The World Cup-bound men recently formed their own players' association and are negotiating the first CBA. Bontis said he contacted captain Christine Sinclair, Sophie Schmidt and other senior female players and their lawyers in late January and told them "something very different is coming to the (negotiation) table." "I told them in the Zoom call that I guarantee as president that I will pay the award," Bontis said. "It was a very important and fundamental policy that I wanted to implement." Bontis spoke Wednesday on the National Soccer Coaches Association of Canada's (NSCAC) weekly training webcast, "Behind the Bench." Bontis said that historically, most national teams have agreed to a percentage of World Cup prize money, usually between 20 and 30 percent. The Canadian men, who are returning to show soccer for the first time in 36 years, wanted a higher percentage, which Bontis said was "the fans" he thought they deserved. “They did something for the first time in 36 years... But I knew we had to do it within the balance of payments. So anything around 50 percent would be unsustainable. "Because it also meant we had to pay women the same amount for the dollar, and you couldn't pay more than 100 percent of the money available," she added. FIFA paid $
00 million in prize money for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Champion France collected $38 million, while the 17th-32nd ranked teams received $8 million each. Bontis said the agreement with the women is "95 percent of the way there." But men's and women's offers are tied to equal pay. He said talks with the men lasted only six to seven weeks and that the players did not hire lawyers or register as a players' union until late August. "I'm really looking forward and hoping we can do something before we hit the ball in Doha," he said. "But if we don't, that's okay. Just as well. Because of course everything is retroactive. Everything we negotiate always goes into the pockets of men and women. Nothing is removed, and frankly, on the women's side, no matter what we negotiate with the men, the amount of compensation will be greater than what they received before. He said he hoped the stakes would extend to FIFA prize money, "especially when it comes to 2026". Also read: Canadian captain Christine Sinclair challenges Canadian soccer to boost her new memoir. Bontis said another part of the deal will fund trips for the players' friends and family to watch them in action. "We offered it, a very nice amount, to friends and family," he said. "And even though we haven't signed the contract yet, the Friends and Families (policy) has already been implemented because their relatives could book hotels and flights for the last month anyway." The final issue, he said, is naming, photography and licensing rights. Noting the recent picture deal with Alphonso Davies, Bontis said the union was the first to sign a deal for the Bayern Munich star because he sells the "vast majority" of Canada's jerseys. "Every contract we have with the Alphonso organization is exactly the same as what we offer the men's and women's teams." Steven Reed elected Bontis as the president of Soccer Canada in November 2020. He has been a member of Soccer Canada's Board of Directors since 2012, serving as Vice-President and Chair of the Strategic Management Committee. Bontis said Canada's governing body is a "small federation" with an annual budget of just over $20 million, competing with giants with budgets more than 20 times that. And $9 million of Canadian Soccer's revenue comes from player fees. “So my job now is to help our organization build capacity. That is the most important thing. Because we can no longer remain a $20 million organization. We have to find new sources of income. We need to create new human capital. We have to create new programs. "We have a gift and it is a guarantee that we are at two (men's) World Cups in a row. It is a gift. Not many confederations can say that." Bontis said Canada's men and women will receive an equal share of the prize money at the World Cup in Qatar. ..
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