Colin Linford's resignation, a mere 15 months into his four-year term as president, is a damaging indictment of the Canadian Soccer Association. (Nathan Denette/Canadian Press)
Soccer: John F. Molinaro
CSA continues to hijack Canadian soccer
Last Updated Friday, August 31, 2007
by John F. Molinaro
This is supposed to be the golden age of soccer in Canada.
Toronto FC, despite its recent scoring woes, is the toast of Major League Soccer, and has league commissioner Don Garber talking about putting expansion franchises in Vancouver and Montreal.
This summer's FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada drew more than 1.1 million fans, the most spectators of any single-sport event in Canadian history. Next month, Christine Sinclair and her teammates head to China where they have a legitimate chance of winning the Women's World Cup.
It would seem the "beautiful game" is on firm ground in this country, but dig a little deeper and you'll notice major cracks in the foundation, a fact underscored by Colin Linford's sudden resignation as president of the Canadian Soccer Association this week.
Linford's departure, a mere 15 months into his four-year term as president, is a damaging indictment of the CSA, an irrelevant and farcical organization if there ever was one.
When Linford was elected president in May 2006, he promised to wipe out the culture of amateurism that has bedevilled the CSA for so long and turn it into a professionally-run organization.
Little has changed, according to Linford, who said his attempts to make wholesale changes were thwarted by the constant meddling and back-room manoeuvring of the CSA's board of directors, an old boy's network made up of provincial soccer association heads who only have their own self-interests at heart.
Linford isn't the first to make this accusation, as virtually every former national team coach over the past two decades has complained about the incessant interference of the board.
What Linford and those coaches will also tell you is that instead of directing money to Canada's national teams or into the development of elite player programs, board members are more concerned with the funding of participatory and recreational soccer in their respective provinces.
As a result, the infighting, regional rivalries and political games of the board have not only stunted the growth of the game in this country, but are also among the major reasons why the men's team hasn't qualified for the World Cup since 1986.
And looking ahead to 2010 in South Africa, are chances don't look good, especially if the CSA board of directors continues to meddle.
Back in May in this space, I described how Linford attempted to hire Brazilian Rene Simoes, who helped Jamaica qualify for the 1998 World Cup, as the new coach of the Canadian men's team.
Linford presented Simoes' name for approval, only to be shot down by the board, which balked at the Brazilian's salary demands, reported to be in the range of $500,000. Instead, they went with the safe choice (read: the cheaper choice) and named former under-20 coach Dale Mitchell as the new man in charge.
Linford also hired Fred Nykamp, who worked as executive director of Canada Basketball, as the CSA's new chief executive officer, but his contract has yet to be approved by the board, even though he was scheduled to start his new job on Aug. 1.
Linford planned on giving Nykamp a great deal of authority to implement many of the organizational changes he wanted made, thus minimizing the influence of the board of directors.
But with Linford now out of the picture, you can expect the board to continue to stonewall Nykamp and prevent him from moving boxes into his empty office at the CSA's Ottawa headquarters.
It is truly outrageous that this group of volunteers - and that's exactly what the heads of provincial soccer associations who comprise the CSA board are - is allowed to hold the growth of Canadian soccer hostage.
The problem is that the CSA, the custodians of the game in this country, have never been held accountable by Sports Canada and the federal government.
How else can you explain that despite more than two decades of World Cup futility, the CSA continues to receive federal funding?
Can you just imagine the uproar in this country if Canada's men's hockey team didn't qualify for a major tournament last year, let alone the past 21 years?
There would be nationally televised parliamentary hearings. A royal commission would be convened. An independent auditor would be assigned to study the inner workings of Hockey Canada and the federal government would withhold all funding until implementing the auditor's recommendations.
That's what is needed in the case of the Canadian Soccer Association.
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