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Photo Credit: John Jacques
New Step Forward: Kevin Blue, CanWNT, And CSB Labour Update
By After months of ongoing discussions, Canada Soccer gave its first major update this week following its labour dispute with both the Men’s and Women’s National Teams.
Canada Soccer CEO and General Secretary Kevin Blue penned a public update on the matter.
“I am pleased to report that Canada Soccer and the players’ associations representing both senior national teams have reached alignment on a framework for a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) covering the period from June 1, 2024 through December 31, 2027,” said Blue in the update. “The framework is equitable across both programs and improves overall financial circumstances for Canada Soccer.”
The dispute, which has spanned for a couple years now, has been a critical issue that has been shrouding the organization even throughout its more recent successes on both the Men’s and Women’s front. With player’s union’s suing former Canada Soccer members to player image problems to training and match boycotts, the association has seen its fair share of controversy in that time frame.
Since the arrival from Kevin Blue earlier this year, however, it seems that these discussions have taken a positive turn.
“Our players have been true partners throughout the negotiations,” continued Blue in his statement. “They have made meaningful concessions to help put Canada Soccer in a better position to fund other important priorities more effectively.”
The Canadian Soccer Players’ Association, which represents the Women’s team, posted a response to Blue’s statement shortly after its release.
“Earlier today, Canada Soccer’s General Secretary and CEO Kevin Blue released an update about the ongoing negotiations between Canada Soccer and the players’ associations that represent the senior national teams,” began the statement.
“As you know, our team has had a number of challenges with Canada Soccer over the last several years. However, with the hiring of Kevin [Blue], we feel as though Canada Soccer is finally turning a page, and we are hopeful about what the future could look like.”
Blue, upon his hiring, explained to media that one of his main plans of action was to establish open and honest communication and a level of transparency that had been lacking in the organization prior to his arrival. It seems that manner of cooperation has gone down well not only with shareholders and the public, but with the players themselves.
See Also: An Introductory Chat With Kevin Blue
“The players from the [Canadian Women’s National Team] want to acknowledge the courtesy, transparency and candour that Kevin [Blue] has shown us throughout this negotiation. He has earned our trust and our respect.”
Yet, the work is not finished as one crucial matter must still be settled before this CBA is agreed upon, and that is the relationship and negotiation with Canadian Soccer Business (CSB). It was revealed awhile back that CSB, which owns and operates the Canadian Premier League, was taking a large share of the sporting revenue from Canada Soccer – a revelation that did not go down well with both players and fans alike.
“A critical step to finalizing a CBA is a revision to the Canadian Soccer Business (CSB) deal that will be more favourable to Canada Soccer and will put it on a firm financial footing going forward,” remarked Blue in his initial update. “The new CBA framework is contingent on such a revision to the CSB deal.”
“Canada Soccer’s leadership and CSB are in active discussions on a restructured deal, and we are hopeful we will arrive at a positive conclusion soon.”
CSB then provided their own update on the ongoing negotiations early on Tuesday morning, as reported by The Canadian Press’ Neil Davidson. They explained that while they were pleased that the organization and the national teams were making progress, it had “proactively made a new, landmark offer” six weeks ago.
“Since then, we have been actively engaged in the process of bettering our partnership, and we are encouraged by the discussions with Canada Soccer’s leadership,” the statement added.
“It is time for all stakeholders to come together to ensure the next couple of years are the most successful and cohesive in Canadian soccer history, as we build toward hosting the 2026 World Cup on home soil.”
While it is clear that there are still a lot of details to iron out and numbers to crunch, these update do point to a potential end to these arduous problems that have been lingering around the Canadian soccer scene.
With the World Cup less than two years away, it becomes paramount for Canada Soccer to right the ship as soon as possible, so as to focus all its efforts on growing the game ahead of this momentous occasion.
Header Image Photo Credit: John Jacques
