May 6 – Peter Augruso has been elected unopposed as president of Canada Soccer at the confederation’s annual meeting.

Augruso, the president and chair of Ontario Soccer which he will relinquish June 1 when the takes over at Canada Soccer, replaces Charmaine Crooks who had said she would not seek re-election. Crooks had filled the role since February 2023, first as an interim following the resignation of Nick Bontis, and then winning the election in May.

It has been a tumultuous time for Canada Soccer. Having forced itself after a long period in the wilderness into the top tier of Concacaf’s men’s team and with a women’s team that is current Olympic Champions, the federation has recently become embroiled in a damaging pay dispute with its national team players, while at the same time taking steps to professionalise clubs and leagues.

Among Augruso’s priority tasks will be to try to find peace with the national team players. He also has to recruit a new permanent head coach for the men’s national team – Mauro Biello has been running the team on an interim basis.

Amongst a package of measures announced at the meeting, Canada Soccer’s board has voted to increase annual membership fee for players by $4 to $13 starting in 2025. Canada Soccer said it is its first membership price hike since 2017 in membership fees that make up 20% of the federation’s income.

Canada Soccer will take $3 of the increase while $1 will be split between funding for Canadian national youth programmes and funding for Project 8 – the proposed new six-team pro women’s soccer league that is targeting kick-off next year.

Project 8 gave its full backing for Augruso’s appointment saying that the league and its ownership group looked forward to working with his new board.

“It’s an exciting time for Canadian soccer, and on behalf of our League ownership group, we are thrilled to have our League be a key pillar of the vision of Canada Soccer going forward. We look forward to working together with Peter and Canada Soccer’s newly elected Board as we work together to create a pathway for the long-term growth and prosperity of  women’s soccer in Canada,” said Diana Matheson, CEO and Co-Founder of Project 8, who spoke at the general meeting.

“Canada Soccer’s tireless support for our League underscores our shared commitment to fostering inclusivity, equity, and excellence in soccer for girls and women at all levels.”

Augruso will hope that he can count on similar commitment in bringing an end to the labour dispute.

Their help will be required of Canada Soccer is to balance its finances. Canada Soccer’s budget for 2024 estimates a $4 million operating deficit on total expenses of $30 million.

CEO Kevin Blue said Canada Soccer must grow its annual revenues by between $10-12 million “to robustly fund its programs and serve its stakeholders – from grassroots up to the national teams.”

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