SoccerThe CSA's side of the Asmir Begovic story

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I had a conversation with Peter Montopoli, the General Secretary of the CSA, and he gave me the facts involved, as he knows them:

• Over the course of Asmir Begovic’s association with Canadian soccer, he has received around $60,000 of funding from Sport Canada.
• Stephen Hart, the interim manager of the men’s national team, has been in regular contact with Begovic since Hart was appointed to the job back in April.

Hart made it clear to Begovic that he had a future with the men’s team, and that Hart saw him as an important part of the squad he was trying to build:

• Montopoli himself has placed three phone calls to Begovic this year – none of which were returned.
• Begovic was called up for the Gold Cup this summer, but he declined the invitation in order to stay with his girlfriend, who was pregnant with their first child. (A point in which both sides are in agreement.)

As is often the case in a disagreement, we have two different versions of how this saga played out. How do we know which version is correct?

Here is what I think.

Sixty thousand dollars is a lot of money to spend on developing a player, especially when you are an underfunded organization like the CSA. It is in no way unreasonable for the CSA to expect to get a little commitment from a player in return for that investment.

There is no excuse for not returning phone calls, especially when they come from your national team. In today’s society, staying in touch with someone is about the easiest thing in the world to do. It may be that he never received the messages, but if Begovic ignored the phone calls from Montopoli, that is poor form.

I imagine that Begovic felt a certain degree of frustration with the CSA and his lack of playing time, both with the Olympic team as well as the men’s team, but that isn’t uncommon.

Players always feel hard done by, especially when they aren’t first choice. But there are ways to resolve that in a professional manner.

All too often, players spit out their dummies and demand to be traded or sold if they feel disenchanted with their club, and more and more often players are switching their international allegiance as well.

The only mistake that I think the CSA made in this sorry tale was being too nice.

Cap-tied should be new tactic

When Begovic was on the bench for Canada’s 3-0 World Cup qualifying loss to Jamaica in November last year, Dale Mitchell should have used his final substitution to put Begovic into the game. That would have tied Begovic to Canada for the rest of his career.

Back in the summer, FIFA removed the age restrictions on players who hold dual-nationality switching their international allegiance. Previously, only players who were under the age of 21 and had played for their country at the youth level were eligible to switch countries.

Now, provided the player has not represented his country in an official competitive senior fixture, he is allowed to change his allegiance at any age.

That is exactly what Bosnia-Herzegovina did with Begovic recently, when they put him on as a substitute in the 92nd minute of their 2-0 World Cup qualifier against Estonia in October. He is now cap-tied to Bosnia-Herzegovina and can never play for Canada again.

Other countries recognize the wishy-washy attitude of many players these days, and they remove any uncertainty by getting players cap-tied in competitive fixtures.

They do this because there is no such thing as loyalty in soccer anymore.

The game is ruled by money, and the fact that players will don the jersey of another country simply because it is more beneficial to their club careers is embarrassing.

Loyalty a thing of the past

Whatever happened to being proud of your country and giving back to the organization that gave you an opportunity to develop your talent? That sort of sentiment seems to be the exception rather than the rule these days.

For what it is worth, I don’t think the CSA is really at fault here.

Could they have handled this situation differently? Yes, but that is with the benefit of hindsight.

The only advice I would give to the CSA is that if you have the opportunity in the future to get a player cap-tied, do it. If you see the vultures circling, trying to steal one of your players, don’t rely on the integrity of the player to stay true to his word. It will save you the frustration of being disappointed by players time and time again.

And what would I say to those players who choose to jump ship on our national team?

If you’re willing to turn your back on Canada because it is more convenient for your club career to play for another country, you’re not the kind of player I want representing Canada in the first place.

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