Olympian Charmaine Crooks named Canada Soccer’s interim president

OTTAWA – Canada Soccer named five-time Olympian Charmaine Crooks its interim president on Wednesday, as the embattled national sports organization looks to broker labour peace with its men’s and women’s teams.

Crooks, who had been serving as vice-president of Canada Soccer’s board of directors, takes over from Nick Bontis, who resigned on Monday. The executive change comes in the wake of a letter from provincial and territorial soccer leaders asking Bontis to step down given the bitter labour dispute.

Canada’s World Cup men’s team refused to play a planned exhibition against Panama last June at Vancouver, while the Olympic gold-medal winning women played the SheBelieves Cup last month only after Canada Soccer threatened legal action.

The men’s and women’s teams have demanded Canada Soccer open its books, including its agreement with Canadian Soccer Business, which arranges sponsorship and broadcast deals.

Crooks has previously served as a board director with the Canadian Olympic Committee and was a member of the International Olympic Committee’s Athletes Commission. She won a silver medal as a member of the 1984 women’s 4×400-metre relay team in Los Angeles and was named to the Order of Canada in 2012.

Also Wednesday, the Canada Soccer board named Kelly Brown, executive vice-president at Arterra Wines Canada, as its acting vice president.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2023.

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