National teams excel in spite of Canada Soccer

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/06/2022 (1539 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Canada’s senior national soccer teams are as good as they’ve ever been. The organization that oversees the sport in this country, including those teams, is a hot mess of incompetence, misbehaviour and panic.

That both statements can be true at the same time only underlines the exasperation inherent in the Canadian soccer experience — whether of players, fans or well-meaning administrators, of which there are some. Probably.

What makes the past week so extraordinary, even by such a regrettable standard, is that the excellence of the teams and dysfunction of the organization finally collided, leaving a debris cloud of frustrations, disaffections and questions drifting from the implosion.

And there are so many questions.

Why now? Why did the men’s team’s strike, which cost a valuable friendly against Panama, seem to come out of nowhere? How was a negotiation over World Cup compensation — something every participating nation undergoes — allowed to escalate so quickly and with such aggression? What’s the fallout?

Inevitably, each question, no matter the framing, points to money — specifically, the role of Canadian Soccer Business (CSB) in its collection and dispersal. The answers, when they’re provided or compelled, will then reveal more questions still. Why does CSB exist? What, or who, does it serve?

Questions concealing answers that present more questions and answers to conceal. There are layers to this — layers upon layers — and what’s striking, and quite problematic, about the entire set-up is that it’s mysterious by design.

Why not be transparent, forthright? Another question.

It’s important to start with the facts.

In a letter laying out their position, as first disclosed by TSN reporter Rick Westhead, the men’s squad expressed a concern that an agreement between Canada Soccer and CSB “compromised” an ability to “leverage the on-field success” of the senior national sides.

Women’s team and Portland Thorns forward Janine Beckie echoed the unease in a Wednesday interview with TSN’s Meaghen Johnson, saying that she and her teammates “don’t have clarity on this deal when it comes to money coming into the association.”

What, exactly, is the arrangement between CSB and Canada Soccer, the body that governs the sport at all levels? And what, for that matter is CSB?

It doesn’t help that it’s all a bit vague, to put it politely.

Canadian Soccer Business, according to its own LinkedIn account, was set up in 2018 as “an innovative partnership enterprise that represents all commercial inventory of Canada Soccer and the Canadian Premier League.”

In other words, it’s an entity that purchased the right to sell, and profit from, broadcasts, sponsorships and, as per a release at the time, the curiously-termed “commercial assets and inventory” previously owned by Canada Soccer, of which the national teams are necessarily a part.

One of CSB’s first acts was to hire New York-based consultancy ThePostGame to market those just-acquired multimedia rights, which were eventually sold to Spanish production company Mediapro, which then launched the streaming service OneSoccer.

More layers.

Incidentally, on Wednesday Mediapro announced a major restructuring (its second in a year) of a nearly €1 billion debt, handing additional control to primary shareholder Southwind, whose primary shareholder is Chinese private equity firm Orient Hontai Capital.

More questions.

And it’s worth pointing out that a trail taking Canadian soccer’s most valuable properties halfway around the world doesn’t have to be at all untoward. Business is business. But — and this is the question the players are asking — when do the principal drivers of that business get their piece of the pie?

Is there even a pie? Could Canada Soccer have pre-sold a potential World Cup windfall as part of its “commercial assets and inventory” transaction with CSB?

If not, great. Then come out and say so. However, if they did, then they essentially bet against their men’s national team successfully qualifying for the 2022 World Cup.

Canada Soccer could put these and more questions to bed in a half-hour display of transparency. However, when given the chance to do that in a press conference Sunday night they not only dug in their heels, they came out swinging at anything that moved.

As deputy-general-secretary Earl Cochrane sat glowering on the dais in Vancouver, offering only the occasional sharp interjection, president Nick Bontis threw the bizarre, semi-coherent tantrum, replete with wild gestures, of a man in control of nothing. A favourite of the union-busting conference LabourWatch, he should never have ascended to a leadership role at Canada Soccer; the sport will be better for his departure the moment it happens.

Back to those facts.

Over the past decade the Canadian women’s national team has medalled three times at the Olympic Games and is the reigning champion. These players have carried Canadian soccer on their backs for twice that long. Fact.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Thursdays

Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter.

Sign up for Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Sign Up

I consent to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies.

I consent to CASL agreement.

In qualifying for a first World Cup since 1986, the men’s national team has already produced a number of unforgettable Canadian soccer moments and will no doubt provide a few more in Qatar. The squad includes name-brand stars and continues to help consolidate the sport in the mainstream. Fact.

Both teams have excelled, and are excelling, in spite of Canada Soccer. Fact.

Imagine what they could do if the organization was helpfully alongside.

jerradpeters@gmail.com

Twitter @JerradPeters