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Stefan Tonev
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Canada women’s team protest over pay equity before 2-0 loss to USA
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The Olympic champions are in dispute with Canada Soccer because of concerns over funding cuts

Canada women’s team, who won the Olympic title in 2021, wore purple T-shirts with the phrase “enough is enough” to protest against their national soccer association (CSA) before their 2-0 loss to the USA in the SheBelieves Cup in front of 14,697 fans at Orlando’s Exploria Stadium in Florida.

The team, sixth in the world rankings, are in dispute with Canada Soccer because of concerns over funding cuts and a lack of pay equality. The Canadians were joined by the USA in a huddle before kick-off.

“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, 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.”

Before the match, the Canadian Soccer Players Association said the team would “continue to wear purple until our association has standards in place that ensure equal treatment and opportunity”.

Both teams wore purple tape on their wrists during the game.

Canada called off a strike because of threats of legal action by the CSA and said they would play in the four-team SheBelieves Cup tournament “in protest”.

They have threatened to boycott a team camp in April if their demands are not met.

The CSA says it has a “proven track record” of supporting women’s football, adding pay equality was “at the core” of negotiations with the national team players.

Mallory Swanson scored both goals for the USA in the first half.

Canada head coach Bev Priestman said the team have to “push through” for the rest of the tournament, with Canada playing Brazil on Sunday and Japan next Wednesday.

“I couldn’t fault their effort,” said Priestman. “You could just see a flatness to them.”