Canada and the U.S. women’s national team joined together around the center circle prior to Thursday’s SheBelieves Cup opener, as the USWNT showed solidarity with its rival’s ongoing fight against the Canadian federation.
Canada’s players entered the field at Exploria Stadium wearing purple shirts emblazoned with the message “Enough is Enough.” Prior to the game, they warmed up with their shirts turned inside out in an effort to obscure the Canada Soccer logo.
Canada’s players said in a statement prior to the match that the color purple was chosen because “purple has historically been associated with efforts to achieve gender equality.”
At issue for Canada’s players is Canada Soccer’s spending cuts in a World Cup year, as well as what they claim to be poor governance and inequity in how the federation treats them compared to the Canadian men’s team.
The team initially said that they would go on strike during the SheBelieves Cup if their demands weren’t met, but were quickly forced to back down from that threat after Canada Soccer threatened them with a lawsuit if they followed through.
“The SheBelieves [Cup] is being played in protest,” said Canada’s captain Christine Sinclair.
The American players, who only recently emerged from a years-long fight against their own federation, have been vocally backing their rivals to the north.
In a statement released prior to the game, the USWNT said: “Although we are now on the other side of this fight and can focus on our play on the field, our counterparts in Canada and elsewhere are experiencing the same pervasive misogyny and unequal treatment that we faced.”
The USWNT also wore armbands that said “Defend Trans Joy” to protest anti-trans youth legislation being proposed and enacted across the country — including in Florida, the location of Thursday’s game.
— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) February 16, 2023
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