Canada Soccer has been facing many internal problems, including financial issues according to the body’s interim general secretary, Jason de Vos.
According to de Vos, Canada Soccer may need to consider filing for bankruptcy protection.
The news comes as Canada’s women’s team, the reigning Olympic champions, prepare for next month’s World Cup in Australia - Canada will face Ireland, Nigeria and hosts Australia at the tournament.
“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,” De Vos told TSN. “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.
Earlier this year, the women's team had also gone on strike to address concerns related to pay equity and budget reductions. While negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement have been ongoing between Canada Soccer and both the men's and women's senior teams, an agreement has not been reached.
“I still think of myself as a player, and I want the national teams to know that I’m on their side,” De Vos, former captain of Canada's men's team, said. “I need for them to understand we only have so much money and there’s only so much we can give them. I don’t want to have to take money from programming resources to provide more compensation. I know the players understand that, but they also want what they feel they deserve.”
“… [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.”
As reported by TSN, Canada Soccer's financial reserves decreased from CA$7.1m in the previous year to CA$2.4m by the end of 2022. This decline in funds comes amidst ongoing concerns regarding the organization's governance and handling of abuse allegations, which has prompted an investigation by the Canadian parliament's Heritage Committee. The country’s minister for sport, Pascale St-Onge, also ordered an audit into Canada Soccer earlier this year because of a “lack of financial transparency ”.
De Vos expressed concerns about the potential impact on international games later this year but did not suggest that the World Cup or Gold Cup campaigns are at risk. He mentioned that the men's team, slated to co-host the 2026 World Cup, has already missed out on friendly matches against Saudi Arabia and South Korea. Additionally, following their Concacaf Nations League match against the US, the men's team was compelled to travel in economy class.
“In terms of them flying business class, it’s transatlantic flights only,” De Vos said. “We would love to be able to fly all of our players in business class on every flight, but we don’t have the resources to do that. It’s not that we’re saying, ‘You don’t deserve it, or you don’t need it.’ We can’t afford it.”
Having qualified for their first World Cup since 1986, the men's team now faces potential challenges in their preparations for the 2026 tournament in light of the financial issues, according to coach John Herdman. Herdman expressed concerns that the difficulties faced by Canada Soccer could adversely impact their journey towards the upcoming World Cup.
“We brought a World Cup to our country and we’re not serious about winning it,” Herdman said earlier this month. “We’ve got to get real, and quick … It’s not a secret the organization has been suffering financially. Even through the World Cup qualification and your head coach is raising money to make sure we’ve got charter flights [and] security on those charter flights. We’ve the best generation of players we’ve had and there’s more coming. You can see it … We’ve got to figure this out financially.”
