(CNN)The Canadian women's national soccer team is on strike following cuts to its program and pay equity concerns, captain Christine Sinclair told Canada's The Sports Network (TSN).
On February 10, the players released a statement on Twitter, criticizing the sport's governing body Canada Soccer, stating players were told the organization "cannot adequately fund the Women's National Team," five months before the Women's World Cup.
"As a team, we've decided to take job action," Sinclair told TSN, "and from this moment on will not be participating in any Canadian Soccer Association activities until this is resolved.
"It hurts, I'm not going to lie," she added. "But it's gotten to a point where, at least for me personally, until this is resolved I can't represent this federation. I'm such a competitor that breaks my heart and kills me..."
Canada Soccer said in a statement that pay equity "is at the core of our ongoing player negotiations," and that it has "already issued a mutually-agreed to retroactive payment."
It added that it had "presented an equity-based proposal to our national teams and their counsel several months ago, and we are still waiting for a definitive response to the terms of that proposal."
The players said that they had been negotiating with Canada Soccer for more than a year and are now "being told to prepare to perform at a world-class level without the same level of support that was received by the Men's National Team in 2022."