Canada Soccer’s interim general secretary Jason deVos has painted a grim picture of the federation’s finances, saying it is considering bankruptcy and may have to skip fall matches for the men’s and women’s national team.
The federation has struggled with financial issues for years, which was highlighted earlier this year when Canada’s women’s national team moved to strike during February’s SheBelieves Cup over cuts to funding.
Both the women’s and men’s national team have publicly complained about the federation’s finances, accusing Canada Soccer of a lack of transparency as both teams continue to play without a collective bargaining agreement.
The Canadian government has taken up an interest in the situation, holding public hearings earlier this year.
Speaking to TSN, deVos admitted that the next step for Canada Soccer could well be filing for bankruptcy.
“We are in a real struggle. It’s not imminent, but we need to explore what bankruptcy entails and how it might affect our organization,” said deVos. “We don’t have enough revenue coming in for the programs that need to be run, and that includes everything from grassroots coach education and referee development to youth national teams and our senior men’s and women’s teams.”
After his side lost to the United States in last weekend’s CONCACAF Nations League final, Canada men’s head coach John Herdman had some scathing criticism for his own federation, charging that it is “not serious” about winning a World Cup ahead of serving as the co-host for the 2026 tournament.
Herdman said that due to a lack of resources, he was unable to hold a training camp long enough to fully prepare his team for both the semifinal against Panama and the final against the USMNT.
But it appears things could get even worse. Rather than a shortened camp, deVos admitted that Canada’s men’s and women’s national teams may have to skip two fall FIFA windows altogether.
“The challenge is there isn’t enough budget to be able to make September and October happen at this moment,” deVos said. “What we need is to play against tier-one opponents in games that move the needle. At this point, trying to find games against top teams in September and October is challenging.”
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