The Canadian Soccer League held a number of board meetings yesterday to discuss where it's going and where it's been.
News leaked out a week ago that the league would be splitting its teams into two divisions next season. That was discussed further at the weekend meetings but the divisions were not finalized and are expected to be by year's end.
But the big question hanging over the CSL continues to be the sudden departure of its now former commissioner Dominic Di Gironimo.
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Sources have told Canadian Soccer News that a rift developed over the past year between Di Gironimo and a number of owners who felt as though the league was expanding too quickly.
Di Gironimo was behind the push to expand to Kitchener, Pickering, Erin Mills and Ottawa in 2011 and was a major backer of the movement to explore expansion in B.C.
Those owners, some members of the CSL equity board, grew concerned at the decrease in territory expansion meant for their teams - with more teams meaning they would have less players to draw on. It also became clear, that while the league was considered financial stable, that some on the equity board were using the fears that tend to come from rapid expansion to justify dragging their heals on decisions.
None of the owners that the Canadian Soccer News spoke to this weekend were willing to offer any on the record comment but their general sentiment reflected those statements given by the league:
The league has been charting its future for the past year and differences eventually appeared which became irreconcilable, leading to the commissioners departure.
League official Pino Jazbec has taken over the duties of commissioner for the 2011 season. Jazbec held the chairman position for the the Ontario Indoor Soccer League and sits on two of the OSA's league management committees.