GE Appliances Canada has offered to increase its sponsorship to Canada Soccer by $100,000 to help resolve an ongoing dispute between the organization and the women’s national team.

In an open letter to Canada Soccer interim president Charmaine Crooks, GE Appliances Canada chief brand officer Bob Park promises “to direct an immediate $100,000 in incremental sponsorship activation funding, explicitly targeted to support the women’s team program,” once the labour issues between both parties are resolved. The funding is conditional on both Canada Soccer and the players agreeing on how the funds are to be used.

For the last month, Canada Soccer has been in a public labour dispute with the women’s national team over a new collective agreement. In February, the team released a statement saying that budget cuts were leaving the team unprepared for the upcoming 2023 World Cup, leading to potential strike action ahead of the SheBelieves Cup (the team would play under protest, not being able to afford a legal battle with Canada Soccer).

Among the other issues the team has outlined since then are pay equity with the men’s national team and not receiving a similar level of support – players told the House of Commons heritage committee this week that they have been hosting training camps without full medical or training teams. The team has also yet to be paid for any of its activities in 2022, though it has reached an agreement in principle on that issue.

Both the women’s and men’s teams are demanding Canada Soccer open its books for an explanation about program cuts affecting both teams, as well as its deals with Canadian Soccer Business. In their initial statement of support, the men’s team claimed the deal over broadcast rights and sponsorship funding with Canadian Soccer Business was an example of “mismanagement” that led to the current cuts.

The dispute led president Nick Bontis to resign on March 1, with five-time Olympian Crooks taking over as interim president. Canada Soccer made a proposed new collective agreement public shortly before the players made their committee appearance; players said during their testimony that making the subject of private negotiations public made them feel “disrespected.”

GE Appliances signed on as a sponsor with Canada Soccer early last year, and Park tells MiC that the $100,000 would be on top of its existing commitment. Between Canada Soccer, the added funding and MLS clubs in Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto, Park says the brand’s soccer sponsorship spending ranges between “six and seven figures” annually.

“We actually aim to be one of the most prominent supporters of soccer in the growth and development of the game in Canada,” Park says. “It’s a huge part of what we’re trying to do. We saw that the diversity in the sport would really help the brand increase its profile, but it also makes sense in terms of  stressing the values of GE.”

But with the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup looming in July of this year, Park says time is of the essence.

“We’re looking for a quick resolution for this for the women’s national team,” he says. “At the end of the day, we’ve made our position very clear: we want to be part of the growth of this game in Canada; we want to make sure it’s equitable, fair and diverse, being a model of good things for life and that means good things for everybody.”

Park says that for GE Appliances Canada, its promise reflects the values of the company.

“We want to make sure any of our partnerships, sponsorships or anything that we get involved in reflects the values that GE is all about,” Park explains. “We’re trying to make sure that we’re clear on where we stand, but also try to do some good for the game. The solution we found was to make sure that we support additional funding to the women’s program and, hopefully, help lighten the position where there isn’t enough funding.”

Although Park says GE Appliances Canada has “a lot of campaigns” on the go regarding major league clubs and the national teams, there isn’t a campaign directed at “women’s equity in particular.”

“We think that actions are more important than necessarily having a campaign,” Park states.