Now for the hard part

Nick Bontis steps aside

Photo by Cytonn Photography on Unsplash

It’s been an eventful few days for Nick Bontis.

Days after he was named CONCACAF Council vice-president, the embattled president of the CSA announced that he was resigning from that role, effective immediately.

The timing of the two moves has led to the more conspiracy-minded of observers to suggest that they are linked — a sort of golden parachute option for Bontis that allowed him to step away, while still maintaining an active role in the soccer world.

Maybe.

Honestly, though, who cares? As much as people were frustrated by the direction of the CSA under his leadership, no one needs a pound of flesh here. No, we just needed him to recognize the need to step aside to allow a new voice into the room. With Bontis in charge, there was zero chance that an agreement between the players and the CSA would happen. The players simply don’t trust him.

Now, there’s at least a chance of a civil negotiation that leads to a mutually beneficial agreement.

I say “a chance” because Earl Cochrane is still the General Secretary and it’s still the same CSA operating under the same deal it has with Canadian Soccer Business. That deal makes it very difficult to generate revenue that could be used to support the programs. Although CSB has said that they are willing to “do their part” to help close the funding gap faced by the women this year, they haven’t indicated what that means and have previously said that they have no intention of ripping up a deal that they believe was negotiated in good faith.

They have a point.

As much as some want to paint the deal as something shady, it really wasn’t. Ill-advised, perhaps, but it was a simple gamble of taking guaranteed income at the risk losing increased value later. The CSA lost the gamble.

When I put $25 down on TFC to win a road game, I don’t get the cash back when they blow a lead in the 88th minute, no matter how stupid it was of me to make the bet (to use a completely random example…). This is the same thing. You can’t just renege on a legal contract.

Something has to give though. Is there really a way forward?

The way I see it we have two issues at play now. First, we have the here and now. The women have to prepare for a World Cup and that needs to happen under the principles of equal pay. The men also need to prepare for a Gold Cup and there’s a u17 men’s World Cup to go to as well. Basically, more money needs to go into the budget, fast.

Secondly, we need to find a way to move forward where the players have trust in the leadership at the CSA.

Like it or not, CSB is going to have to be part of this. Additionally, there’s going to have to be some give from all sides, if they truly do want the sport to succeed.

When it comes to the issue of funding now, CSB needs to identify what “doing their part” means. A real easy solution here would be for them to allow the women to seek out a third party sponsorship that is beyond the scope of the deal. That wouldn’t affect past or future revenue, while allowing the program some flexibility to deal with the short term problem.

Is that an ideal solution? No, but it’s something and it’s a start to showing that CSB is there to help grow the sport, rather than simply drive profits for themselves.

Once the here and now is dealt with, all parties need to sit down and figure out how they are going to work together as equal partners. The top-down leadership that the CSA has displayed over the years must become a thing of the past. CSB needs to be open and at the table. As for the players, they need to recognize the CSB partnership can’t just be handwaved away.

If that happens, then the three parties can together work to appoint someone to a new role that is created to oversee the national team programs. Ideally, that person should not be from the way-too-small world of Canadian soccer. An outsider is needed.

The role of CSA president should remain elected, but should be redefined.

Perhaps I’m being too simple here. I understand that there’s going to need to be lots of work to do here. That said, I think I speak for most people when I urge all parties to remember that you all have the same end goal — to grow the sport and see the national teams be successful.

Now that Bontis has stepped away, it’s time to get to work to find a way forward for both the short and long term.

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