Kenneth Heiner-Moller rejoins Canada Soccer as sporting director, national teams

Former Canada women's coach Kenneth Heiner-Moller has been named to the new role of sporting director, national teams, at Canada Soccer, essentially becoming the top soccer dog in the organization.

"Reporting to the CEO, the sporting director is the senior executive responsible for the management of Canada Soccer's national teams and high-performance initiatives," says the official job summary.

While Heiner-Moller will report to CEO Kevin Blue, national team coaches Jesse Marsch and Casey Stoney will report to Heiner-Moller, according to a Canada Soccer spokesman.

"Kenneth is an internationally respected technical leader, and we're excited to welcome him back to Canada Soccer," Blue said in a statement. "His familiarity with our environment, combined with his diverse global experience as an executive and coach, will be vital as we strengthen our sporting structure and prepare for a crucial time in our organization's history and the management of post-World Cup growth."

The 55-year-old Heiner-Moller, whose first name is pronounced Kenn-ett, has spent the last year as technical director of San Diego FC, joining the expansion MLS team in January 2025. Canada Soccer says he is expected to be "be engaged full time" come the summer after transitioning from his role at San Diego.

His arrival is timely given Canada's role as World Cup co-host.

With Denmark having hosted some games at Euro 2020, Heiner-Moller has seen what doors a big tournament can open.

"There is so much to do afterwards," he said in an interview. "So many great stories to build on... Everything that happens afterwards is going to be pretty special."

Prior to joining San Diego, Heiner-Moller spent 4 1/2 years with the Danish Football Association, first as head