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Newly elected Canadian Soccer Association President Victor Montagliani held court with the media today via conference call and sounded very much like a man itching to get to work now that he is heading the organization for which he had previously served three terms as the Vice-President and had been a member of the Association’s Executive Committee since 2005.
If there was a general theme expressed by the Burnaby, B.C. native today it was that now is the time to move forward for the good of Canadian soccer.
Montagliani was asked right off the bat about how he was going to go about building bridges with the four Canadian professional teams and others in the Canadian soccer commuity that had publicly endorsed Rob Newman for the position that he was ultimately elected to.
"Obviously, it wouldn't have really mattered who would have won. I think people were going to vote for me or against me and for Rob or against Rob. But it was pretty evident to me the night of the banquet, when I had discussions with many of the membership and people who admitted that they did not vote for me. That said, they agreed with my messaging after that it is time to come together. They were actually quite happy that the result went the way it did in the sense that it is now time to move forward," said Montagliani .
"Specifically with respect to the professional clubs, one of the first emails I received after my victory was an email from the Whitecaps. And I got a phone call from TFC, so I think that people have a right to their opinion and I don't have a problem with that, but I think the professional clubs know that I am in for the right reasons. We are both willing to work with each other and they all know that this country and this game can't afford for that not to happen. At the end of the day, they are professional clubs and they will act professionally, with respect to how they conduct their business, which is no different than how the CSA will. They are football people and I'm a football person. We are on going to disagree on certain issues and that's okay. There is a lot of commonality there and I think we can move forward with that."
Montagliani, who beat out Newman and the incumbent Dominic Maestracci for the position of CSA President on Saturday, May 5th, also spoke at length about the importance of working closely with the MLS and the U.S. Soccer Federation on issues that are central to the success of all three entities. He was specifically asked about the quota that is in place with respect to the number of Canadian players each Canadian MLS club must have on his roster and explained that not only would he like to see more Canadian players featuring for Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, but also for the U.S. based MLS clubs.
"This was an issue that didn't start off in a cooperative fashion, but it ended off in a cooperative fashion over a year ago. During the election, it came out as an issue again. And like it in any election, things can get heightened. It's not just the quota that we need to talk about. There are so many things that the professional clubs do for us and can do for us. Whether it is their academies and youth teams, support with respect to professional football beneath them and obviously working to see how many Canadians we can get not only on their teams, but also in the MLS in general. It's a lot bigger issue than just that one thing and we have set up a task force that all the professional clubs sit on with the MLS and these are issues that we are working on towards finding common ground, so that it will benefit the country and the clubs. As I said earlier, we can't afford to have the age old debate of club vs country. Especially in Canada it needs to be club and country. We understand that and the clubs understand that and we look forward to working with them," stated Montagliani.
"It's not just working directly with Don (Garber). We also work hand in hand with the U.S. Soccer Federation. At the end of the day, it is a two country league, so it is not just Canadian soccer and the MLS, it's Canadian soccer, U.S. soccer and the MLS. We are all in this together. It is sort of a three party agreement, for lack of a better word. We will be sitting down with them over the next while, and hopefully it will be at our centenary match that is coming up. Don Garber has been on the record saying that from an MLS standpoint it is very important that Canada's national team performs at a high level and gets to the World Cup. So the MLS is aware that they have a significant partner to the north and that our success will be our success."
The CSA's 33rd president was also candid and pragmatic when asked to provide his thoughts on the feasibility of a Canadian Division 2 league and the currently ongoing study on that vitally important topic.
“The study is looking at what professional football should look like at the professional level underneath the MLS. What is the model that is economically and logistically feasible and, obviously, technically feasible. A lot of the discussions have been with all of the stakeholders in Canada and the existing professional clubs. I have my personal views on that in the sense that - is a national league, coast-to-coast, realistic? No. But something along the lines of how junior hockey is done on a regional basis, I think that is more realistic,” said Montagliani, who highlighted the NASL as a very feasible option for some of the remaining major Canadian urban centres.
Montagliani, who was elected by the association membership to lead the CSA for a four year term, also spoke generally about his main priorities in the opening months of his reign at the helm of Canada Soccer.
"I think first and foremost, especially in the first thirty days, it is just getting sort of an understanding of the landscape in terms of the major issues moving forward. A lot of it is stuff that the CSA staff already has a good handle on, such as the Women's World Cup, the Olympics and World Cup Qualifying. From an organizational standpoint, we have to start the building blocks and focusing on the Long Term Player Development roll out and creating a business plan over the next twelve month that focuses on our priorities. And then looking at filling the role of Technical Director by the fall and looking at our national team programs and the other programs that have to be looked at," said Montagliani.
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