Here is a portion of the written statement we received from FIFA.

FC Edmonton’s leading scorer, Shaun Saiko, has been greenlighted by doctors to play in Sunday’s must-win tilt against the Atlanta Silverbacks.

The Canadian Soccer Association maintains that it’s staying the course with its brand — and, as partners, the two parties are always in close contact. So, it’s not like the news of what’s happening to Umbro around the world isn’t monitored by the CSA brass.

This Thursday, the Canadian women will take on the Vancouver Whitecaps’ women’s team in an exhibition match that is not only open to the public, but admission is, well, free.

Late last week, Sportstown B.C. Holdings and Total Soccer Systems Inc. filed their suit in the province’s Supreme Court which asks for an injunction that would prevent the provincial soccer body from continuing its partnership with the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Victor Montagliani sounded a lot like a man who had just won a political-party nomination.

Victor Montagliani, the odds-on favourite going into this weekend’s Canadian Soccer Association elections, got the support he needed at the Annual General Meeting in Ottawa and is the new president.

As press conferences go, the announcement of Canada’s 2015 Women’s World Cup host cities was about as anticlimactic as they get.

Make no mistake. This is unprecedented stuff. In North America, sports teams’ front offices usually work behind the scenes when it comes to political issues and don’t make public pronouncements on their positions. Too many risks, too many bridges that can be burned. But this times is different.

But, a cynic would question the “all-Canadian” nature of the Impact-Whitecaps match. After all, between the starting lineups of both teams, there was only one player who would be eligible for a Canada call-up; Impact midfielder Patrice Bernier.