How much are Canadians willing to spend to turn soccer ambitions into reality?
Major investment needed for both national teams to succeed as fans expect
When the Canadian men kicked off their Gold Cup campaign against unranked Guadeloupe at a subdued, storm-circled BMO Field on Tuesday night, the ecstasy of last year's World Cup qualification and the white-hot lights of Qatar seemed less like memories than the figments of a former imagination.
The disjointed, shaky performance that followed — Canada conceded an own goal in the 93rd minute to draw their Caribbean visitors, 2-2 — did nothing to help recall recent glories. It felt instead like an on-field re-creation of the boardroom chaos that continues to plague Canada Soccer.
The national federation, which in the best of times has exhibited all the stability of a three-legged chair, is in a state of profound financial crisis. Jason deVos, a former player now serving as Canada Soccer's interim general secretary, admitted to TSN this week that bankruptcy is among the options being considered. (He later explained that he was merely trying to educate himself on what bankruptcy would entail and that it is not a strategy being considered by Canada Soccer.)
John Herdman, the men's head coach, revealed something of the federation's unbalanced ledgers after his side lost the Nations League final to the U.S. in Las Vegas earlier this month. He lamented that his team could afford only a four-day camp while their opponents enjoyed far longer residencies, complete with exhibition games.
WATCH l Canada's men's soccer team stunned by unranked Guadeloupe:
DeVos' bankruptcy confession made plainer the scope of the problem. Canada Soccer hosted the Women's World Cup in 2015 and will co-host the men's tournament in 2026 — the crown jewels of a sport infamous for its unabashed largesse — and yet finds itself close to broke.
"We are challenged financially," Herdman said before his side's equally sobering display against Guadeloupe, a French department with a population south of 400,000. "I think everyone expected, coming off a World Cup, I think they expected that it was going to be all sunshine and rainbows... And it's not."
As if the skies weren't unsettled enough, Stephen Eustáquio and Samuel Adekugbe, two of a handful of Europe-based players on Canada's Gold Cup roster, withdrew before the opening match. Herdman's burned-out squad was already missing its biggest names, including Alphonso Davies, Jonathan David, Tajon Buchanan, Cyle Larin, Ismael Koné, and Alistair Johnston.
They all chose summer vacations over country, meaning that Tuesday saw five players make their national-team debuts, the most in a single Canadian men's game since 1968.
"I think the fans got to see some of our future," Herdman said after.
WATCH l Soccer North: Disappointment that Canada Soccer facing same old problems:
Most immediately, that future now includes must-win games against Guatemala on Canada Day and Cuba on July 4, both in sweltering Houston.
The longer-term prospects for Canadian soccer are less clear.
While the depleted men slog on, the seventh-ranked women have departed for their World Cup in Australia and New Zealand under the same clouds of financial uncertainty. Despite more than a year of fraught negotiations, neither national team has reached agreement with Canada Soccer on tournament bonuses and other issues.
"I need for them to understand that we only have so much money and there's only so much we can give them," deVos told TSN. "I don't want to have to take money from programming resources to provide more compensation."
He said that the men have already missed out on an opportunity to play Saudi Arabia and Korea in Europe during September's international window, despite the Saudis charitably offering $500,000 in match fees. CONCACAF-rivals Mexico swooped in and booked those dates instead.
"The whole game has to come together to find a genuine solution to make sure our country can perform," Herdman said. "These players have earned that right. The staff have earned that right. We shouldn't be going backwards after a World Cup."
In fact, Herdman said, his men should be thinking about winning the next one, which will include rapturous games at BMO Field, as hard as that was to manifest in Tuesday's nervy damp.
"Anything can happen at a home World Cup," he said.
Only three years out, "anything" is a stretch. Even with enormous investment, never mind potential bankruptcy, the men's program is decades away from catching up with the game's giants. We are not Brazil. We are not France. We are not Argentina.
But neither should we be drawing Guadeloupe. The time has long come for a national conversation about what kind of soccer country we want to be, and how much we're willing to spend to turn those ambitions into results.
When you invest in dreams, the only guaranteed return is hope.
So, now, here we are: What is hope worth?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
