The Canadian Soccer Alumni association, including 11 former national team captains has publicly endorsed Victor Montagliani as their choice for CSA president in the upcoming elections.
The former captains include: Paul Stalteri, Mike Sweeney, Enzo Concina, John Limniatis, Frank Yallop, Bob Iarusci, Jim Douglas, Colin Miller, Mark Watson, Bruce Twamley and Jason Devos.
You can read the whole statement from John McGrane, president of the Alumni Association, after the jump.
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PRESS RELEASE
The Canadian Soccer Association Annual General Meeting will be taking place on May 5, 2012 in Ottawa. At this AGM, the membership will be electing a President to take the Association forward over the next four years.
This CSA Presidential election campaign is being contested by the incumbent, Dr. Dominque Maestracci from Quebec, Rob Newman from Saskatchewan and Victor Montagliani from British Columbia. The Canadian Soccer Alumni Men’s Association would like to congratulate all three candidates for their willingness to help move soccer forward.
After diligent consultation with our members, the Alumni Association has agreed that we, as former Canadian International players, will be endorsing and showing our support for current CSA Vice President Victor Montagliani in this campaign for the Canadian Soccer Association’s Presidency.
The Canadian Soccer Association is proudly celebrating its 100th Anniversary in 2012 and, in conjunction with this historic milestone, the CSA has commenced a new governance reform movement that is designed to form a future CSA board of directors that will have a more national, rather than provincial, vision for the overall governance of the game of soccer in Canada. As the Association moves forward with this new governance model, it is important that the CSA has a strong leader at the helm during this critical time.
The overwhelming consensus among the Canadian Soccer Alumni Association membership is that Mr. Montagliani has the overall technical knowledge and business/corporate background that the role of President requires. We believe Mr. Montagliani possesses the best ability to lead the Association as it seeks to deliver a clear pathway for player and coaching development throughout Canada, build strong relationships with corporate Canada, as well as nurture solid and professional relationships between all the various stake holders throughout the country.
Mr. Montagliani strongly feels that creating an atmosphere of collaboration with all stakeholders is critical for our game to fulfill its growth potential on this country. As the CSA Vice President, he has worked diligently in his role as Chair of the National Teams committee, fought to protect the Canadian quota required of our domestic MLS teams, presented a solid vision for the growth of professional soccer in Canada and has demonstrated a strong understanding of the importance of creating consensus on a governance level.
Quite simply, we strongly feel that Mr. Montagliani’s combination of passion and experience is what the sport of soccer in Canada needs to go forward in a more positive direction. He understands the game inside out, is a national B license coach and he played the game at a good level, representing Canada along the way. When combined with his impressive private sector business and governance experience, it was clear to our membership that Mr. Montagliani was the obvious choice for the presidency of the Canadian Soccer Association over the next quadrennial. All three candidates are worthy candidates for this position based on their experience and dedication to the game but we feel that Mr. Montagliani is best suited and most likely to lead our nation back to the level that we once enjoyed and where we can return.
The following list of former captains of the Canadian Men's National Team, spanning a period of time from the early 1970's to 2011 wish to have their endorsement of Victor Montagliani publicly noted. Those former captains are Paul Stalteri, Mike Sweeney, Enzo Concina, John Limniatis, Frank Yallop, Bob Iarusci, Jim Douglas, Colin Miller, Mark Watson, Bruce Twamley and Jason Devos.
In addition, Les Wilson, who had an extremely distinguished professional playing career and served as Team Manager for some of Canada’s most successful national teams, including the 1986 World Cup squad, wishes to be included among those the Alumni Association members who are publicly endorsing Mr. Montagliani.
John McGrane
President, Canadian Soccer Alumni Association