Finally tangible progress on the work front with the Canadian men’s soccer team.
According to a source, Canada Soccer has reached an agreement with its brand man Alphonso Davies over the likeness rights of the name and likeness.
The deal only needs final signatures, according to the source who requested anonymity as the deal has yet to be announced.
CBC Sports has not independently verified the report.
“I can confirm that we are very close to the finish line,” Canada Soccer general secretary Earl Cochrane said on Tuesday when asked about a deal.
Davies became the latest flashpoint between Canada Soccer and its players last week when TSN reported that Davies’ rep had told Fanatics, which runs Canada Soccer’s merchandise website and sells licensed sporting goods, that he no longer had permission to sell Davies’ jersey because the governing body failed to reach an agreement to market the likeness and image of the Bayern Munich full-back.
Cochrane, who confirmed Davies’ rep Nick Huoseh requested the jersey be retired, said the governing body had been in talks with Davies’ camp for several weeks over a name and lookalike deal. of picture.
Name/image likeness rights were an issue in discussions between Canada Soccer and players ahead of the World Cup, Davies’ jersey is by far the best-selling among Canadian men.
“We only want what is right”
“National team players have never received royalties from jersey sales, and they should,” Nick Huoseh told TSN. “We only want what’s right and they absolutely can and should do that.”
Huoseh did not immediately respond to a question Tuesday from The Canadian Press.
Canada Soccer’s initial understanding was that these rights would belong to the new Canadian Men’s Players Association. But Davies’ rights actually belong to a third-party company, Davies’ own AD 19 Inc..
Parallel discussions on name and image rights are ongoing with the male players’ association.
Dissatisfaction with the state of collective bargaining has prompted Canadian men to boycott a scheduled June friendly against Panama in Vancouver, citing “unnecessarily protracted” negotiations over a contract with Canada Soccer.
The Canadian men then formed a players’ association (the National Men’s Soccer Team Players Association of Canada) as compensation negotiations continued, following the example of the women’s team, which is represented by the Canadian Soccer Players Association (CSPA).
The new association covers players who have been called up to any Men’s National Team side since January 2021.
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As negotiations are also underway with the Canadian women, the decision has been made to reach an equal agreement for men and women.
In many ways, Canada Soccer is catching up with a men’s team that went from 0-60 very quickly, a process accelerated in part by their stunning performance in a pandemic-condensed World Cup qualifying run.
“The reality is that we’ve only really started to use this success of our men’s national team in the last six to eight months. [That] that’s when we started selling the jerseys and custom name and number T-[shirts]said Cochrane.
Players like Davies, Jonathan David (Lille, France), Milan Bojan (Red Star Belgrade, Serbia), and Tajon Buchanan and Cyle Larin (Club Bruges, Belgium) are also playing on the big European stages these days.
“We never had a written contract with the men regarding the resemblance between name and image,” Cochrane said in an interview. “We had with the women. We have had a collective agreement finalized with the women for almost 10 years.
“And so there’s a specific language in the women’s agreement that we’ve followed and have always followed. And that language is the language that we’ve used with respect to men in those situations.”
He said the women’s agreement uses what he called a “global standard” that does not require additional compensation “if you use an image of four or more athletes in a group image”.
Cochrane says the “vast majority” of players who have been asked in the past to have their image used “have always come back positively”.
Previously, Canada Soccer negotiated compensation with the men’s team on a case-by-case basis. The issue of World Cup compensation remains on the table.
FIFA paid out US$400 million in prize money at the 2018 World Cup, ranging from $38 million for the winner to $8 million for each of the 17th to 32nd place teams.
rapid rise
Part of the reason the women had a deal that covered image rights was that they were more successful and in higher demand than the men.
When John Herdman switched from coaching the Canadian women to the men in January 2018, the men were ranked 95th in the world, sandwiched between Belarus and Congo. The women, Olympic bronze medalists under Herdman, were fifth at the time.
The climb was quick.
In December 2021, FIFA named Canada, then ranked No. 40, the “most improved team” in terms of ranking points earned in the previous 12 months.
Davies’ camp also turned down a proposed Gatorade ad involving the Bayern Munich full-back and several Canadian teammates, citing an existing deal with rival energy drink BioSteel signed in September.
Cochrane says Canada Soccer understands Davies’ reasons.
Players have the right to negotiate their own sponsorship deals. They just can’t reference Canada Soccer or wear the national team jersey.
If a sponsor came to Canada Soccer asking for a player in a Canadian-branded ad, the player would be compensated — if the ad featured fewer than four athletes, Cochrane said. Such agreements are seen more as a team endorsement than a personal one, he added.
Under a 10-year agreement announced in March 2018, Canada Soccer Business acts as Canada Soccer’s agent for corporate sponsorships and broadcast rights. The money from these deals goes to Canada Soccer Business, which in turn pays an annual fee to Canada Soccer.
The deal, which helped fund the launch of the Canadian Premier League, does not affect World Cup prize money.
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