Yes, the Canadian clubs are mandated by the Canadian Soccer Association to have a high percentage of Canadian players. But, we’re also seeing a spike in Canadians signed by the American USL clubs. Swope Park Rangers have four. The Rochester Rhinos have three, as does Orlando City’s B side. You’ll find two Canadians on the Pittsburgh Riverhounds. A Canadian keeper — John Smits — is the everyday No. 1 for the Wilmington Hammerheads.

Thank you for being patient. As we reorganized Plastic Pitch, you have shown us great support. And, now, the good news. The App is back live on Google Play, iTunes and Amazon. And issue 9 is out!

In the end, you’d have to believe that one bid would sabotage the other — and in the worst-case scenario — both would blow up because of it. Before we get to “official bid” time, Canadians need to decide which they’d rather go for.

But, just minutes after he was elected, it feels surreal. A Canadian now has the levers of power in his hands. Of course, he has a massive job; in a FIFA community that’s dogged by scandals, CONCACAF may be the most corrupt member of the family. Three previous presidents have all been caught with their hands in a very, very, large cookie jar.

“They should do what they think is best for their club and best for their supporters,” Peterson said in a media conference call on Tuesday.

But, if Montagliani was to win the presidency — and his candidacy is backed by the Canadian Soccer Association — it would only grow to this country’s growing presence in the region. Canada’s Sonia Denoncourt has already been charged with helping improve the standard of CONCACAF refereeing; some cynics would say she’s in charge of actually creating a standard for CONCACAF refs. And Scotiabank has taken over as the title sponsor of the CONCACAF Champions League.

This is not how a league is launched. For the first real public pronouncements about the Canadian league to come from contractor who puts bubbles over fields looks bad on basically our whole soccer establishment. What the investors in said Canadian league need to do now is to get ahead of this story — it’s about time for the rumours to end and some sort of public acknowledgement to be made. If a PR person isn’t in place, hire one. Now.

Soccer officials in the United States are moving to ban heading of the ball in youth soccer. Similar measures have been debated in Canada — but we’ve decided to go with an approach that stresses education over regulation. But, is there hard, peer-reviewed evidence out there that supports the notion that heading the ball leads to brain injuries?

Canadian soccer followers have seen it in World Cup qualifiers and in the CONCACAF Champions League — how the standards of officiating differ between Canada, the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America. But Canadian official Sonia Denoncourt has been put in charge of the region’s referees — can she create standards that make sure no one ever gets “CONCACAF-fed” again?

Advanced analytics are helping soccer managers across the world assess their teams’ strengths and weaknesses. But Canada was one of the first national programs to embrace analytics — way back in the early ‘80s