With players still striking, Canada Soccer president has gone home: report

With his federation in crisis, Canada Soccer President Nick Bontis has gone home.

Already.

TSN’s Rick Westhead is reporting that Canada Soccer believes it has “made progress” in contract negotiations with the men’s national team players. That sounds like good news, and hopefully, the players agree.

Bontis must feel rather confident because he’s already on his way back to his home in Ontario. He left Vancouver early Monday morning according to Westhead.

Hearing Canada Soccer will announce via a press release today that it believes it made progress in contract negotiations Sunday night with members of the men's national team.
CS President Nick Bontis left Vancouver early Monday to return to his home in the Toronto region.

— Rick Westhead (@rwesthead) June 6, 2022

It’s a surprising development, given the events of the last 24 hours.

After refusing to train on Friday and Saturday, the Canadian men’s national soccer team refused to play in Sunday’s match against Panama at BC Place.

In an open letter, the players said they had been “disrespected” by Canada Soccer, expressing frustration about getting executives to negotiate with them. Players said they didn’t receive an offer until Thursday and that Bontis and interim general secretary Earl Cochrane did not make themselves available to meet until 24 hours before Sunday’s match.

In case anyone was wondering how recent negotiations with the #CanMNT were going…https://t.co/nvSJeM28FH pic.twitter.com/8jg17GNHEI

— Peter Galindo (@GalindoPW) June 6, 2022

Bontis and Cochrane conducted a media conference Sunday evening, in which Bontis did most of the talking. Ironically, among the things he expressed was the importance of face-to-face communication.

“We need to have face-to-face dialogue,” Bontis told reporters. “Earl and I arrived here specifically to have face-to-face dialogue, to participate in this window, to have a board meeting… We have had Earl’s phone, and my phone, ready and available for a response. Anytime. I’m telling you, we will immediately leave this room, go to the same hotel that the players are staying at — on purpose — so that we are ready to sit down and [negotiate].”

The players called into question a 2018 agreement that Canada Soccer signed with Canadian Soccer Business, which the players say “compromised their ability to leverage the on-field success of our senior national teams.”

“Where is the progression? Where is the money?”

In response, Bontis said that Canada Soccer couldn’t afford to meet the demands of the players.

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“I can’t accept an offer that will put our organization in a financial position that is untenable,” said Bontis. “And what I need to do is explain to the players, which we have, what our financial position is and how we can move forward.”

Hopefully, for the sake of everyone involved, a deal can be met between the executives and the players. The past 24 hours have been a national embarrassment during what was supposed to be a celebratory and money-making week, as well as an important window to help prepare the Canadian men’s national team for its first FIFA World Cup in 36 years.

Canada is scheduled to play Curaçao at BC Place on Thursday.