As the province of Ontario braces to get hammered by massive snow, its uncompromising soccer association president is getting badgered from all sides by people who want him to compromise.
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As the Canadian Soccer Association’s crucial future-governance gets set to convene on Saturday, everyone wants to get a look at Ron Smale’s hidden card – the one that says what he will really do if the original governance model is defeated in the first hand.
Backing up – because even some name soccer scribes still haven’t got this all completely straight:
The fates of three possible governance models will be determined on the weekend.
- The first, from April, 2010, would eliminate all twelve provincial and territorial soccer association presidents from the CSA board. Ron Smale ardently backs this. So – for what it’s worth – do I.
- The second, born of fraught negotiations in December, allows as many as three provincial presidents to remain. (The Territories aren’t specifically excluded, but good luck getting elected.)
- The third is essentially the second, but with a one-year no-action dead zone prior to implementation.
In a frank interview with me last month, Smale made it clearer than clear he will not support the compromise. This stance has put him under significant pressure – from CSA directors, his fellow provincial presidents, and dissatisfied membership within the Ontario Soccer Association itself.
And here’s why Smale’s stance is potentially a major problem:
- The first plan seems overwhelmingly unlikely to get the 67-per-cent support it needs to pass. Quebec is said to be adamant, Alberta is presumed to be opposed, and other provinces are known to be less than completely thrilled.
- Each province’s vote weight is determined by its percentage of registered soccer players. Ontario is massive, and its vote is capped at 25 per cent. Except: When the CSA removes those extra votes from Ontario, it doesn’t redistribute them proportionally among the other provinces. That means Ontario’s full quarter actually turns into over 30 per cent of the reduced pie. That means Ontario and one midsize province have the votes to kill the second plan.
Ron Smale, reform’s loudest provincial champion, holds high the hammer which could kill the compromise.
Whether he will actually swing it won’t even come up unless the original plan is killed. Whatever leverage Smale holds right now is all based on his threat to kill the compromise.
BUT: Would he, if the original was already dead, and the compromise offers the only real remaining hope for desperately needed reform?
That’s the question the collective soccer media wants to ask Ron Smale right now.
If I were him, I wouldn’t answer. The answer he gave me last month, asked if the compromise would be acceptable?
“Not from my perspective. We believe there needs to be a complete separation of the provincial component from the national component.”
Sometimes, in journalism, there comes a time to hold your breath and see what happens next. As I noted above, I whole-heartedly support the original plan. If the only chance that has to pass comes down to Ron Smale holding out hard against the compromise, I really don’t want to be the one to ask the “what if?” question.
Lack of objectivity? Certainly. Guilty as charged.
But where the national team is concerned, I still see myself as a fan first, and a writer second.
I’m sure Ron Smale already knows how he will vote on the compromise, if and only if the original plan is defeated. But it’s in the deeper best interest of the entire CSA reform movement that he keep that information to himself.
I invite any and all to go after that answer. I’m going to choose to stand back, and watch the fella do his work.
Onward!