BC Soccer, potentially an important swing vote, supporting Crooks as Canada Soccer president

BC Soccer president Gayle Statton, whose province may hold a swing vote in Canada Soccer’s presidential election this Saturday, said she’s sympathetic to national team players who are calling for a change in the federation’s leadership but won’t be swayed by their appeal.

Statton, whose governing body holds eight of the 85 votes that will be cast this weekend, told TSN she will vote for Charmaine Crooks, Canada Soccer’s interim president and a long-time board member.

“I care deeply about our national program and the poor and inequitable treatment of our women’s team, but we won’t be changing our decision,” Statton wrote TSN in a text message on Wednesday. “They need to give her a chance and work together for one year to see if there can be positive change.

“They are hurt, and I understand and respect that, but I think regardless of who leads this organization over the next year, we all need to transfer the energy into making sure better decisions are made at Canada Soccer. It’s time to unite a bit. I’ve reached out over the last few months to try and talk to the player reps, but to no avail.”

Stakeholders, including provincial and territorial bodies, professional teams and leagues, and both senior national teams, will vote on the federation’s next president Saturday in Saint John, N.B. Crooks is running against Rob Newman, who was a Canada Soccer board member from 2002-12. Newman is currently president of Sport BC. 

The job, for which there is no salary, is for 12 months. The winner will complete the four-year term of former president Nick Bontis, who resigned in February. Another presidential election will be held a year from now.
Several soccer officials who will cast votes on Saturday say this election is one without a clear-cut choice. 

Like Crooks, Newman also comes with baggage, the voters said, because of his connection to an alleged cover-up of sexual misconduct. 

Newman was on Canada Soccer’s board in 2008 when the organization severed ties with junior national team coach Bob Birarda following allegations of sexual misconduct. Rather than publicly censoring Birarda and suspending him, Canada Soccer issued a news release thanking him for his service. Birarda went on to coach teenage girls for a decade in B.C. He is now in jail after being convicted of sexual assault.

“Looking back is difficult but a critically important thing to do,” Newman wrote TSN in a text message on Wednesday evening. “In 2008, CSA operations hired a legal expert to look into the Birarda situation. That expert provided recommended actions, which the CSA executive collectively voted to follow. It would have been irresponsible to not adhere [to] a qualified expert’s legal advice. Fifteen years later I reflect about decisions made and always advocate for better systems and a safer sport environment.”

Newman also confirmed that he’s decided not to attend the annual meeting in person. While Canada Soccer is paying Crooks’ travel expenses because she’s a current official, it would not cover Newman’s costs.
There are 85 votes up for grabs in Saturday’s election. Depending on whether a new women’s domestic professional league, known for now as Project 8, is sanctioned and how many votes it is awarded for the election, the race is expected to be close. The women’s league is being organized by Diana Matheson, a former women’s national team player.

Both Ontario and Quebec, with 10 votes apiece, have pledged support for Crooks, three people familiar with the matter told TSN, as have the Canadian Premier League (CPL) and its eight teams.

“I think there’s been a lot of change already with Nick Bontis and [general secretary] Earl Cochrane being let go and maybe that’s enough,” said one voter who said they did not have permission from their provincial federation to speak publicly.

“We need to put this bad business of the past year behind us and start getting ready for the World Cup in 2026.”

The CPL and its teams collectively have 15 votes. Several voters told TSN on Wednesday the only way they see a path to victory for Newman is if the new women’s league is awarded half of the CPL’s vote bank and votes for him.

Saskatchewan Soccer Association president Lisa Bagonluri said she is wavering about who to support in the election and that one recent development has left her uneasy about voting for Crooks.

“Charmaine was asked to go and testify [Thursday] before the federal Heritage Committee and she declined,” Bagonluri said in an interview with TSN on Wednesday evening en route to the annual meeting.

“But why not go now? Why not show everybody what you could do? Why not go before the committee and grab the bull by the horns and defend the decisions that we've made, or at least try to explain them or admit the wrong and commit to the right. This would have been a great opportunity for her, and I think it shows a lack of leadership by her not going there.”

While Crooks – who is now scheduled to testify May 11 before the committee – is expected to lead meetings Thursday in Saint John, her responsibilities could have been rescheduled, Bagonluri said. 

Bagonluri said Crooks contacted her in recent weeks to discuss her candidacy and spoke at length about her experience serving on boards. Crooks was a member of the International Olympic Committee from 2000-2004 and is a board member of the Canadian Olympic Foundation, which helps to raise funding for Canada’s Olympic programs.

“… It felt like a lot of fluff,” Bagonluri said. “I said to her, ‘Tell me what you have done. You need to sell yourself.’ And her response to me was that she likes to celebrate herself with her close friends and family. And she hopes that the work she does will speak for itself. Well, it hasn't so far.”

“I don't think Charmaine is a bad person, but I don't think there's going be any change that comes from her presidency. I don't think she has shown a lot of leadership qualities, even in the last 40 days… it's just disappointing to see that we all unanimously made this decision to see change and now the big provinces are reneging on that. Is that because of personal agendas? I don't know. It just it stinks… if feels like we’ve only begun to scratch the surface of what’s happened with Canada Soccer. Do we really want to be in the same position that FIFA was not such a long time ago?”

Bagonluri said she was referring to a scandal that stretched over several years after more than 40 defendants, including soccer leaders and marketing executives, were charged in the U.S. and Switzerland with corruption, racketeering and money laundering.

A mother of three from Saskatoon, Bagonluri said she became a soccer volunteer more than 20 years ago because her daughter’s team needed a coach and then a manager. In 2015, Bagonluri was elected president of her provincial federation. She said she’s been disheartened watching Canada Soccer spiral between crises over the past year.

“Unfortunately, they had the wrong leader in place,” Bagonluri said of Bontis. “We tried to give him the benefit of the doubt and do the job that was before him… He is not a bad guy. It's just he wasn't the right guy.”

With the election expected to be so close and ballots cast in secret, meaning a voter could pledge support publicly for one candidate and then vote for the other, Bagonluri said she thinks B.C. will ultimately decide the next Canada Soccer president.

“Saskatchewan is a small province, we have just four votes,” Bagonluri said. “We may not have the votes to beat out the CPL, the professional leagues and the big provinces, but why not go out fighting trying to make a stand and speak out against more of the same?”