CBC-Sports

Offside: Fixing Canadian soccer - Governance

November 30, 2009 02:58 PM | Posted by   Jason de Vos  

Of all the feedback I received in the last six months surrounding the state of soccer in Canada, the most heated centred on the Canadian Soccer Association's Board of Directors.

Most fans in Canada believe that the CSA’s board is out of touch with the game in our country and that its sole purpose is to maintain the status quo.

It is not difficult to come to that conclusion, as the board is a vague group of individuals who are rarely given any publicity.

Who better to vent your frustrations on than those who choose not to respond?

While most of you agree that we need to restructure the way the game is governed in Canada, there is also a widespread belief that those currently doing the governing do not share this view.

That is not entirely accurate.

In fact, the CSA has formed a Constitution Committee, whose purpose is to come up with a new system of governance for the game of soccer in Canada.

New system of governance

Once in place, the goal of this new system will be to separate the role of governance from the day-to-day management of Canadian soccer.

This will allow people like Peter Montopoli, the General Secretary of the CSA, to get on with running the CSA like a business, where targets are put in place and people are held accountable for reaching those targets.

This new system of governance is not going to happen overnight.

It will not come into effect until it is endorsed at the CSA’s annual general meeting in May of 2011.

The reason for this length of time is that any new model of governance must abide by FIFA regulations. The CSA has consulted with other governing bodies that have gone through the same sort of governance change – most notably, Football Federation Australia.

So, who exactly is on the Constitution Committee?

The Chairman of the committee is Rob Newman, the Vice-President of the CSA Executive Committee.

The five other members of the committee are:

  • Ryan Fequet – President of the Northwest Territories Soccer Association
  • Gerald MacDonald, President of the Prince Edward Island Soccer Association
  • Les Sinnott – Vice-president of the British Columbia Soccer Association
  • Dan Tomlinson, Chair of the Ontario Soccer Association’s Governance Committee
  • Don Story – Vice-head and associate professor, Department of Political Studies, University of Saskatchewan (also on the Board of Directors for the Saskatchewan Soccer Association)

You might look at that list and wonder why the chairman is also currently on the executive committee of the CSA, and why two members, Fequet and MacDonald, are currently on the CSA’s Board of Directors. I know that I certainly did.

Most critics of the CSA have been calling for a complete dismantling of the current system of governance, including those currently on the board.

Appointing board members to revamp itself is hardly being objective, is it?

It was always going to be unlikely that the CSA would go outside the soccer community to appoint a completely independent committee to revamp our system of governance.

Having said that, I am told that this committee is determined to propose a new system of governance that will correct the wrongs of the current system, regardless of the political fallout that may occur as a result.

What Canadian soccer needs

The name that intrigues me the most on the committee is Don Story.

“At the most fundamental level for any organization, you must separate the board from operations to ensure accountability and transparency,” he said back in September.

That sounds to me like exactly what Canadian soccer needs.

In budgetary news, the CSA is moving forward with a proposed $2 increase in membership fees.

This is not a revelation, but if the increase gets approved by all of the provinces, it will result in an improvement in the CSA’s finances for 2011, 2012 and 2013 – all crucial years for the next cycle of men’s and women’s World Cup qualifying.

I am told that discussions about ratifying the increase with the provinces are ongoing, with some of the provinces supportive of the increase, while others wish to receive more information about where that money will be spent.

As for the World Cup, the CSA has submitted a letter of intent to FIFA to host the women’s event in 2015. The installation of a natural grass surface at BMO Field in Toronto will no doubt aid that bid. (Provided, of course, that BMO Field is only used for soccer, as it was intended.)

At the moment, the CSA is waiting to hear from FIFA exactly what the bid criteria will be to host the women’s World Cup. That information is likely to come in February or March of 2010.

There is a board meeting taking place from Dec. 4-6 in Montreal, and I will have an update on that for you next week. I will also bring you some feedback from Stephen Hart on the World Cup team’s recent European adventure as well as some information on the formation of a Canadian National Team Alumni Association.

Stay tuned soccer fans - there is more to come!

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