After holding a historic vote for governance reform and then suddenly finding themselves engulfed in controversy surrounding the future of the womens’ team manager all in the same weekend, the power-brokers at the CSA are likely praying for some quiet time.
But say what you will about the CSA's modus operandi, to the best of my knowledge it has never unveiled a new national team manager and then had that same manager decide two days later that he can't take the job.
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That is the situation Canada's arch-Concacaf-rival Honduras finds itself in.
Last Wednesday the Honduran FA announced that Colombian Juan Carlos Osorio would be the national team’s new head coach. (This has been a long search, read here and here for some of the backstory.)
The following day, Osorio told the press in Colombia – where he is currently coaching the club side Once Caldas – that he would have to revisit with the club's directors his plan of coaching both Once and Honduras at the same time. At issue was whether he could begin managing the Honduran team immediately, or wait until June when his club commitments would be through. If his Colombian bosses said no, the Hondurans would have to wait, although he didn’t expect them to.
It seems that amid visions of skipping gaily down the road to 2014 World Cup qualification together, the Honduran FA and Osorio neglected to cement the one niggling detail that was his start date.
The Honduran FA came roaring back (publicly) to Osorio with an ultimatum: either come now or don’t come at all. By Friday, Osorio had officially declined the offer, asking for understanding from the Hondurans because there was no way he could go back on his promise to Once.
So the Hondurans once again find themselves at the hands of interim management, this time for their February 9 friendly against Ecuador.
It’s easy to snicker at a rival's public misfortune. And it's fun too. But then the Honduran federation can point recently to its 2010 World Cup berth, the three domestically trained Premier League regulars in its starting eleven, or its Copa Centroamericana victory last month as proof it must be doing something right. And this is the rub.
Bashing the governing body is as much a pastime as football itself in many countries. But supporters are far more willing to grumble and then shrug off bureaucratic bungling and massive PR gaffes if the national team is enjoying relative success.
Canada's women have had a fantastic past 12 months. But Canada supporters are long-starved of being able to feel good about themselves. They need far, far more evidence of on-field achievement from both national teams before the gut reaction to any kind of public mishap is not simply to blame the CSA.