Canada Soccer contemplates filing for bankruptcy

Canada Soccer is struggling to stay afloat, and bankruptcy is now a real threat to the Federation. With the Canadian teams competing in the Gold Cup and Women’s World Cup in July, the financial situation continues to weaken. A lack of profitable media rights and friendlies depleted the cash reserves of Canada Soccer.

In an interview with TSN, interim general secretary Jason de Vos said the possibility of bankruptcy is real, and it is something he and the rest of the Federation discussed.

[Bankruptcy has] been discussed more from my own perspective to learn about it,” de Vos told TSN. “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.”

Canada Soccer’s cash reserves sat at just $2.4 million at the end of 2022. One year earlier, it was at $7.1 million. This is despite federal funding pumping a large quantity of cash into the Federation. Canadian parliament provided Canada Soccer with $5 million in 2022. However, the situation is dire. On the way back from the side’s Nations League defeat against the United States, members of the men’s national team were sitting in coach class on an Air Canada flight.

At the same time, men’s Head Coach John Herdman vented his frustrations about the financial situation up north and how Canada is not serious about winning the World Cup.

“I think it’s not a secret the organization has been suffering financially even through the World Cup qualification. You had coaches raising money to make sure we’ve got charter flights, security on those charter flights.”

Canada Soccer may file for bankruptcy after missed opportunities

Canadian output on the field has suffered as a result of the financial woes. On one hand, both the men’s and women’s teams are doing well. The men qualified for the second men’s World Cup in the Federation’s history. Before then, Canada picked up a gold medal in women’s soccer at the 2020 Olympics.

Regardless, Canada has missed out on potential friendlies because it simply could not afford them. Canada had potential friendlies against South Korea and Saudi Arabia ahead of the 2022 World Cup. Yet, despite Saudi Arabia offering Canada $500,000 for the friendly, Canada did not pay the $200,000 for the entirety of the trip to Europe for the games.

This fall, the men’s and women’s teams may not have international camps. TSN estimated playing two matches and running a camp in a single window can cost between $500,000 and $1 million per team. Based solely on the cash reserves, that may be too much for the Federation. As a result, these two promising and developing teams could miss out on key games.

PHOTO: IMAGO & Agencia-MexSport