With the CONCACAF Gold Cup less than eight weeks away, Canadian head coach Stephen Hart was in Toronto on Thursday morning to discuss Canada’s preparation for the tournament as well as its June 1 friendly with Ecuador at BMO Field.

It’s hard to use the term “business as usual” for a club that played it’s first NASL game on Saturday, but FC Edmonton coach Harry Sinkgraven continues to put his team through the paces in Florida, away from the Alberta cold, as it prepares to try and make it two wins a row this Saturday against the Atlanta Silverbacks. The furthest thing from the minds of the club’s brass — and the players — is the current dispute between the Alberta Soccer Association and the Canadian Soccer Association. “No one from any body has contacted us,” said FCE spokesman Andreas Morse.

Despite reports from AP this morning suggesting Canada, Costa Rica and Spain could replace Japan as one of the guest teams in this summer’s (or, in South America, winter) Copa America, the Canadian Soccer Association confirms no one from CONMEBOL has reached out to it.

It was played in an empty stadium in Antalya, Turkey. There was no television coverage. Fans had to follow the game through Sportsnet’s live chat or on Twitter. But this is what we know: despite coach Stephen Hart putting together a lineup that was heavy on European-based players, an MLS man got the goal that gave Canada a 1-0 win over Belarus in a friendly on Tuesday.

The needs of television have outweighed the needs of Canada’s fledgling professional team. The Canadian Soccer Association and Rogers Sportsnet unveiled the broadcast schedule for the Nutrilite Canadian Championship, and the news was awful for FC Edmonton’s front office.

On Friday, the lottery phases ended — and tickets for the upcoming Women’s World Cup went on general sale. And the numbers are encouraging. According to FIFA, 515,000 tickets were sold through the first four phases of the ticket-selling process, before the tickets went up for general sale.

FC Edmonton’s roster is filled with players who are hoping that featuring for the NASL club will get them back on the radar of the Canadian national program. For left back Niko Saler, those hopes were heightened on Tuesday. Saler, currently in Arizona training with FC Edmonton as the club prepares for its inaugural NASL season, got the call and will join the Canadian U-20 team for its training camp in Florida ahead of the upcoming CONCACAF U-20 championships in Guatemala.

Burnley defender David Edgar confirmed through Twitter that he will be called up for the March 29 friendly between Canada and Belarus scheduled for Antalya, Turkey. Edgar acknowledged his fans who congratulated him on his call-up.

If Major League Soccer is true to its word, we can expect to see a rise in the number of cards and penalty kicks awarded in games this season. Commissioner Don Garber outlined some new points of emphasis for MLS officials in his season kickoff conference call Friday. Garber made it clear that the league was concerned over what it felt was the number of infractions that went unpunished in games last season.

What will Canada do? FIFA has now formally launched disciplinary proceedings against six match officials accused of helping to fix the last two international friendlies held in the Turkish resort of Antalya. According to FIFA’s international calendar, Canada’s men’s team is to play Belarus March 29 in Antalya, which has become a hotspot for training camps and friendlies. Toronto FC opened its 2011 training camp there with three matches against European club-team opposition.