'Where does the money go?' Canada Soccer gets a red card for its finances
CBC
Canada Soccer's Olympic espionage debacle has lifted the veil on years of turmoil inside the organization racked by internal and financial problems, and which has been criticized for a lack of transparency.
In nearly 40 interviews with people tied to Canada Soccer, Radio-Canada has learned of infighting and fears of funds being mismanaged as a deal with a third party has stripped its teams of their ability to make profits.
Canada Soccer has been mired in scandal despite the recent success of both the men's and women's national teams.
Radio-Canada has interviewed employees, players, former players, executives, coaches and agents. Almost all of them requested that their names not be used in this report because they feared repercussions.
They raised numerous issues: lack of transparency, spending of public funds, financial opacity, a mysterious deal with a private firm, allegations of favouritism, widespread spying and a toxic environment.
"It's a hornet's nest, everyone's keeping their mouth shut," said one former executive.
The prevailing view among the sources who spoke to Radio-Canada was that, for the past two decades, the administrators of Canada Soccer prioritized loyalty to federation bosses and their own interests.
Case in point: Canada Soccer executives negotiated a deal with Canada Soccer Business (CSB), a private firm, which took effect in 2019. The deal saw Canada Soccer give CSB broadcast rights for Canadian national team games and the right to unilaterally negotiate sponsorship deals and claim all revenue from those deals.
Canada Soccer has never publicly revealed the details of this deal. Radio-Canada obtained documents outlining the agreement. TSN first reported on it in 2022.
In exchange, Canada Soccer gets between $3 and $3.5 million a year — and an extra $500,000 during 2024, 2025 and 2026 because Canada is playing host to the FIFA World Cup in 2026.
Canada Soccer has also been spending $1 million per year to CSB to support the newly launched Canadian Premier League.
According to financial experts who spoke to Radio-Canada, the deal is likely extremely lucrative for CSB, but the company's earnings are hidden. "All partnership agreements are commercially confidential," CSB says.
Players and board members alike, in interviews, have decried the deal as unfair.
The Canadian Soccer Players' Association, which represents the Canadian women's team, has filed a $40-million lawsuit against 15 current and former board members of Canada Soccer alleging the CSB deal constitutes "negligence and breach of fiduciary duty."
Marc-André Galbrand says the ice is not what it used to be on the Saguenay River in eastern Quebec.
Advisers from one of the world's largest investment banks, J.P. Morgan, have delivered a glowing review of the Churchill Falls memorandum of understanding, saying it offers the necessary guardrails and financial returns to ensure the mistakes of past energy deals in Newfoundland and Labrador are not repeated.
Educators in Sudbury are once again raising alarm about violence in schools, arguing chronic underfunding is leading to unwieldy class sizes and reduced staffing that create frustrated students who lash out.
The flow of people moving to Nova Scotia from other Canadian provinces has slowed down over the last two years, meaning the province's population growth is now primarily made up of international migration.
The rush of people moving to New Brunswick from other provinces has slowed down to a trickle, with international immigration continuing to lead as a source of population growth.
Canada Soccer's Olympic espionage debacle has lifted the veil on years of turmoil inside the organization racked by internal and financial problems, and which has been criticized for a lack of transparency.
The new CEO of Winnipeg's downtown development agency has been asked to create more affordable housing in Manitoba's capital, and come up with a new vision for Graham Avenue after Winnipeg Transit routes move north to Portage Avenue later this year.
This story is part of Welcome to Canada, a CBC News series about immigration told through the eyes of the people who have experienced it.
Young Regina athletes have their sights set on a gold medal at the World Dodgeball Federation's first ever World Youth Open.
Operating hours for the Red Deer, Alta., supervised consumption site are now cut in half, as the facility moves to shut down by March.
A day after her client was accused in the death of a newborn, a lawyer for self-styled "childbirth activist" Gloria Lemay was in B.C. Supreme Court Wednesday claiming $30,000 in damages from B.C.'s College of Nurses and Midwives for an alleged breach of her rights.