Canada Soccer leaders called to testify to MPs on women’s team labour dispute – National | 24CA News
The House of Commons’ heritage committee is inviting the management of Canada Soccer to testify in early March, placing the governing physique underneath scrutiny over allegations of unequal therapy of the nationwide ladies’s soccer staff and allegations of sexual abuse inside soccer applications.
At a gathering Thursday on the research on Safe Sport in Canada, the committee adopted a movement put ahead by NDP MP Peter Julian for a listening to with Canada Soccer’s “current president and CEO.”
The movement permits for a summons to be issued if the invitation is declined.
Nick Bontis is the president of Canada Soccer, and Earl Cochrane is the final secretary.
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The movement comes after Liberal MP Anthony Housefather stated Monday that the parliamentary committee has already requested the minutes of Canada Soccer’s board and wished to query the governing physique in a future assembly.
The Canadian ladies are collaborating on the SheBelieves Cup in Orlando, Fla., amid an deadlock with Canada Soccer.
The gamers boycotted follow Saturday and stated they’d not participate within the event till their grievances have been addressed. They reluctantly returned to coaching Sunday after Canada Soccer threatened them with authorized motion, saying the gamers weren’t in a authorized place to strike.
The Canadian ladies are demanding the identical backing in getting ready for this summer time’s Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand that the boys acquired final yr earlier than Qatar, and each the boys’s and girls’s soccer groups need extra transparency in terms of Canada Soccer’s funds.
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Canada Soccer additionally got here underneath hearth at a current assembly of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women for its dealing with of allegations towards former U-20 ladies’s staff coach Bob Birarda, who pleaded responsible final February to 3 counts of sexual assault and one depend of sexual touching involving 4 gamers.
Former ladies’s staff captain Andrea Neil advised members of Parliament that Canada Soccer didn’t correctly deal with the gamers’ allegations and enabled Birarda to proceed teaching ladies after he was dismissed by each the nationwide sports activities group and the Vancouver Whitecaps in 2008.
“Our national federation had completely failed at safeguarding, irresponsibly shifting his predatory behaviour on,” Neil stated.
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