Good morning, Madam Chair and members of the committee.
My name is Earl Cochrane. I'm the general secretary of Canada Soccer.
Canada Soccer governs the global sport in our country. We are custodians of a sport that, perhaps more than any other, has a platform to transform society for the better. It is incumbent upon Canada Soccer to amplify Canadian values and to weave them into the fabric of our game, both domestically and internationally. We haven't always been perfect, but our intent is to have a significant positive impact on those who play and enjoy our sport.
In recent years, compensation for the Canada Soccer national teams has grown exponentially, but payments to the two teams have always been similar. From 2012 to 2019, player compensation was $2.92 million for the men and $2.96 million for the women.
As the national teams have grown and enjoyed success, they have been paid as such. When payment to each national team has been unequal in any given year, it has generally been driven by differences in competition calendars. In 2020, COVID-19 led to the inactivity of both teams and obviously had a negative impact on their compensation. Even so, that year the women's national team was paid the amount contractually owed to them, while the men's team received no pay. However, the compensation for the teams has never been the same, and Canada Soccer understands and fully supports the women's team's desire for equal pay.
Canada Soccer is committed to delivering equal pay and ensuring that the environments for both of our national teams are built for success. Based on those principles, in June 2022, Canada Soccer first offered a framework for the same collectively bargained agreements to the players of both national teams. The proposed agreements will pay players on both teams the same amount for playing a 90-minute match and will share total competition prize money equally between the teams. Simply put, national team players, regardless of their gender identity, will be paid the same amount for their work in representing our country.
Canada Soccer has negotiated in good faith and will continue to do so. We have provided documentation to inform those negotiations. In fact, we have a financial information session with the teams in a few hours. We have provided the national team players and their representatives detailed information and briefings on Canada Soccer's financials, its audited financial statements and detailed breakdowns of Canada Soccer spending.
The leadership team of the women's national team and their legal counsel were also given a presentation on Canada Soccer and the Canadian Soccer Business agreement. The players and their representatives have always been welcome to ask any questions about that information. Canada Soccer has also met and will continue to meet all legal requirements for financial disclosure. We know the government is considering new requirements for national sports organizations, and we welcome direction on that from the Minister of Sport.
We firmly believe the offer in front of the national teams today is fair and equitable. The agreement would make Canada's women's team the second-highest paid women's national team amongst the 211 FIFA member associations, trailing only the United States. The men's team will also be fairly compensated and in line with other World Cup-calibre nations, but this requires a sign-off by all three parties. We are doing this despite the fact that Canada Soccer's revenues are significantly less than those of most of our competitors.
In 2021, Canada Soccer's total revenue was approximately $33 million. In that same year, the football associations of the women's teams currently ranked higher than Canada by FIFA—the U.S., Germany, England, Sweden and France—had total revenues ranging from $70 million to $700 million. We are paying Canada's women more than those associations, with the exception of the U.S.
Also, Canada Soccer is working to deliver equal pay in an extremely unequal international environment. For example, Canada Soccer will receive $9 million for appearing in the group stage of the 2022 men's World Cup, while receiving a similar amount for winning the 2023 women's World Cup.
Canada Soccer is offering to equalize this disparity for the women's team, because they deserve it. They are world-class athletes and global ambassadors for our country. Canada Soccer commits to being a part of the solution to the unequal financial environment in which we operate. Canada Soccer is also dedicated to equity in our national team operations. Equal opportunity has been and will continue to be our standard practice.
From 2012 to 2019, total staffing and program spending was just about $37 million for both national teams. Recently at Canada Soccer we made some funding decisions for the operations of the women's team that we thought would have minimal impact. We were wrong. Those decisions were made with good intentions of controlling spending, but we should not have made those decisions that negatively impacted the women's team.
Canada Soccer is now in conversations with the technical staff of our women's team to reconfirm what they need to be successful at the World Cup, and we are committed to meeting those needs.
Canada Soccer also recommitted privately to the women's team players and is publicly reiterating today that we will continue to deliver the resources needed to compete and succeed at the international level. That includes, but is not limited to, preparatory matches against top-tier opponents, adequate staffing, a minimum number of players, adherence to an agreed-to travel policy, and equitable training venues and accommodations. However, it would not necessarily mean equal amounts spent on the operations of the national teams at all times, because the teams have very different competitive calendars and requirements within the FIFA match windows.
Delivering on those commitments will require additional revenue, so Canada Soccer is developing a five-year, revenue-focused strategic plan and holding discussions to amend its agreement with CSB.
The CSB agreement provides valuable broadcast and streaming opportunities for both national teams. It guarantees Canada Soccer an annual payment, and it has secured new partners to significantly invest in grassroots and high-performance soccer in Canada.
Prior to the CSB agreement, Canada Soccer was paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to broadcast women's and men's national team games. No Canadian broadcaster was willing to pay to broadcast those games. The CSB agreement has resolved that issue and helped grow the women's game in Canada.
The governing body for European football, the Scottish FA, Major League Soccer and Soccer United Marketing have or have had similar agreements.
Today, the unilateral term option and limited ability for us to share in upside revenue are drawbacks of the agreement with CSB, but we hope to resolve those issues shortly.
In recent years, Canada Soccer's national teams have achieved an unprecedented level of success. The women's team's 2021 Olympic gold medal was a particularly special moment, and the women's team has consistently demonstrated excellence. Canada Soccer is proud of those achievements and will fully support the women's team to succeed at the 2023 women's World Cup, to qualify for Paris 2024 in September, and to continue to compete for titles.
We are listening and responding to what the players and technical staff need. We are committed to equal pay through the proposed collective bargaining agreements, and we must deliver on our commitments within set budgets and financial realities.
I'm going to go off-script for one moment, so I apologize, Madam Chair. A few weeks ago, Janine Beckie, a player on the women's national team, appeared before you. She recently suffered an injury that will see her miss the World Cup and the remainder of her 2023 NWSL season with her full-time, professional club. On behalf of Canada Soccer and, if it's not too presumptuous, on behalf of this committee, I would like to let her know that she's in our thoughts and we wish her the best on her recovery.
I've gotten to know Janine over the past year, quite well. On top of being incredibly professional and passionate about this sport and this country, she's a warrior. I know that she will come back stronger than ever. I wanted to share publicly that we will, through the team and through our full-time staff, do everything we can to provide every opportunity for her to be involved in any way that she sees fit at the World Cup.
Thank you for your attention.