A former captain of Canada's women's soccer team is calling for the federal government to launch a full judicial inquiry into abuse in sports across the country.
"Nothing can change until we turn the lights on and reckon with where we are," Andrea Neil told members of Parliament on Thursday.
Neil told the committee she's heard stories about mistreatment, abuse and corruption within Canadian soccer for years, including as recently as last week. Birarda pleaded guilty last February to three counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual touching involving four players, and was handed a sentence of two years less a day in November, including nearly 16 months in jail.
"These women have been dismissed, diminished and devalued as human beings by those who were responsible for keeping them safe." Olympian Lanni Marchant also spoke before the committee on Thursday, detailing the harassment and abuse she experienced first as a young figure skater, then as a long-distance runner who competed at the 2016 Rio Games.
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