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.

When Canadian Soccer Association President Victor Montagliani was tabbed to a part of FIFA’s 13-member reform committee, he was skeptical.

“It’s an American thing,” he said. “There has been no approach to us from the NASL in that capacity. And, it’s not really a major issue here.”

Canadian Soccer Association board member Amelia Salehabadi-Fouques will submit a motion that the organization pull out of FIFA and CONCACAF. In a statement made public on her website (CLICK HERE), the Quebec board member pledges to make a motion at Saturday’s CSA board meeting that would initiate a temporary separation between the CSA and FIFA. Of course, her motion calls …

But, if the league does indeed come to be — and, to be fair, there is still a lot of skepticism out there — the assumption that the North American Soccer League’s Ottawa Fury and FC Edmonton would simply come along for the ride is well, off-base.

During his reign as president of FIFA, Sepp Blatter has made the Canadian Soccer Association one of his favourite federations.

Trying to predict the aftermath of Tuesday’s FIFA arrests is like trying to gather up all the buckshot that’s been sprayed out of a cannon.

Canadian national-teamers Desiree Scott, Emily Zurrer and Julian de Guzman posed in the team's new kits Friday. The new Umbro kits were unveiled at the flagship SportChek store at West Edmonton Mall.

Issue 5 of Plastic Pitch, out now, represents our most pain-staking effort. This issue is a labour of love, of passion for the Canadian game — and asks questions about our Canadian identity within the game. It should easily become the most talked-about issue we’ve put out.

“Until two to three years ago, the relationship was non-existent,” says Montagliani. “Basically, we were a foregone conclusion to our friends from the south. But we have strengthened our relationship, first with the USSF, and now we have better relationships at the MLS level, and the NASL level. Our relationships are improving but, remember, it’s been just two or three years.”