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.

Edmonton has learned that the forward’s paperwork didn’t get completed in time to beat the deadline to be eligible to play in NASL in the final couple of months of the season.

“The Canadian Soccer Association supports the work of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee and will continue to cooperate fully,” said Victor Montagliani, President of the Canadian Soccer Association, in a release issued Wednesday.

One of the best-known names in American indoor soccer has all but ruined Canada’s chances of getting to the Futsal World Cup.

On Sunday night, Canadian goalkeeper Lars Hirschfeld played the hero when he made a game-saving stop on Clint Dempsey in the final seconds of extra time to preserve a scoreless draw against the U.S at BMO Field.

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.

“There are some injury issues, unfortunately, and we will have a couple of players that cannot be part of the campaign,” said Hart. “Marcel de Jong is out and Jonathan Beaulieu-Bourgault is out and we’re waiting on some medical reports on two other players.”

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.