Soccer bigwigs Montagliani, Bontis to testify Thursday at MP committee examining Canada Soccer

FIFA vice president and Vancouver native Victor Montagliani will give testimony via video conference at the Safe Sport in Canada hearings looking into Canada Soccer on Thursday, March 30. 

Montagliani, along with recently-resigned Canada Soccer president Nick Bontis and current Canada Soccer chief financial officer Sean Heffernan were summoned by the committee of MPs last week. 

Committee member Anthony Housefather said the trio was called to appear because they have been involved at the highest levels of Canadian soccer for the last two decades.

"They ... were instrumental in all of the major decisions we are looking at ranging from the agreement between Canada Soccer and [Canadian Soccer Business] to the Bob Birarda case and how Canada Soccer deals with questions of harassment," said Housefather, Liberal MP for Mount Royal.

"I think we are hoping to understand their explanations for things such as why the [CSB] agreement was negotiated the way it was and why Birarda was allowed to continue coaching even after Canada Soccer had specific knowledge of multiple allegations. There are other issues, of course, ranging from a culture of entitlement of the Canada Soccer Board to its relationship with CONCACAF," he said.

Montagliani is president of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) and FIFA vice-president. He is a former president of B.C. Soccer, served as vice-president of Canada Soccer from 2005 to 2012 and president of Canada Soccer from 2012 to 2017.

In 2008 Montagliani held the non-executive position of director of national teams when coach Bob Birarda was quietly let go from his dual role as head coach of the Canadian Under-20 women's team and Vancouver Whitecaps