Former Vancouver Whitecaps, Canada Soccer coach to be sentenced Wednesday

The former head coach of both the Vancouver Whitecaps women's team and Canadian under-20 women's soccer team will be sentenced in North Vancouver provincial court Wednesday.

In February, Bob Birarda pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault and one count of touching a young person for a sexual purpose. The charges stemmed from the complaints of four women related to incidents spanning from 1988 to 2006.

The identity of the victims is protected by a publication ban. CBC has learned that all are former soccer players.

Birarda almost certainly faces jail time. Touching a young person for a sexual purpose draws a minimum sentence of one year and a maximum of 14 years behind bars.

In 2008, Birarda was quietly let go from his dual positions at Canada Soccer and the Vancouver Whitecaps after players complained of inappropriate behavior. Within months he was hired as a girls club coach in the Vancouver area.

The story gained prominence in February of 2019 when former Whitecaps player Ciara McCormack wrote a blog post called "A Horrific Canadian Soccer Story" containing allegations against a person she called "Coach Billy" who was later identified as Birarda. 

That same month, he was suspended from coaching girls at Surrey, B.C., club Coastal FC.

In the subsequent months, former Whitecaps and national team players brought forward additional accusations, demanding answers from Canada Soccer and the Vancouver Whitecaps as to how Birarda was able to continue coaching girls and young women after he was fired. 

The women's efforts were amplified by Vancouver Whitecaps supporter groups, who staged mass walkouts during Whitecaps home games in 2019.

In May 2019, the Whitecaps issued an apology to the former players. It was