Canada’s women’s team say they will not go on strike because of threats of legal action by Canada Soccer.
Captain Christine Sinclair had earlier said the team would strike because of concerns over funding cuts and a lack of pay equity.
The team said they would call off the strike as they cannot afford the risks any action will entail.
Sinclair said the team were playing the upcoming SheBelieves Cup tournament in protest.
Canada will face the United States in the multi-team tournament on 17 February.
A joint statement released on Saturday by the players said Canada Soccer had “told us they consider our job action to be an unlawful strike”.
Canada Soccer said it respected the players’ right to organise but they were not and are not in a legal strike position under Ontario labour law.