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We are currently in the golden age of soccer in Canada. The men’s team made their first World Cup since 1986 last year in Qatar. And, the women’s team won the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after hosting the Women’s World Cup in 2015.
The women’s team has always had top players like Kadeisha Buchanan, Ashley Lawrence, and Christine Sinclair. But, the men’s team finally has real stars now. Fullback Alphonso Davies is one of the best players at his position in the world at just 22 years old, and forward Jonathan David is one of the world’s best young forwards.
Couple all of that with the 2026 World Cup being co-hosted by the USA, Mexico, and Canada, and it should be a great time for soccer in Canada. But, that’s not the case, as the governing body is having massive problems and is on the verge of bankruptcy. It could even impact the ability of the national teams to play.
Canada Soccer’s finances have worsened to the point that both senior national teams may not play in international windows this fall and the organization may eventually need to contemplate filing for bankruptcy protection.
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Here are some details from the above article.
Canada Soccer’s finances have worsened to the point that both senior national teams may not play in international windows this fall and the organization may eventually need to contemplate filing for bankruptcy protection, interim general secretary Jason deVos said in an interview with TSN.
This comes as the women’s national team prepares for the World Cup next month and the men’s team begins competing in the Gold Cup this week.
“We are in a real struggle. It’s not imminent, but we need to explore what bankruptcy entails and how it might affect our organization,” said deVos, a former captain of the Canadian men’s national team who was appointed to his executive position in April. “We don’t have enough revenue coming in for the programs that need to be run, and that includes everything from grassroots coach education and referee development to youth national teams and our senior men’s and women’s teams.”
“…[bankruptcy] has been discussed, but not in the sense of this is a strategy or this is something that we’re looking at. It’s been discussed more from my own perspective to learn about it. It is absolutely the last option that I want to consider or even think about. But I would be remiss if I didn’t do my due diligence on this.”
That is not good at all, and could potentially put their ability to host in jeopardy if bankruptcy is a must. Soccer fans in Canada deserve better.