'Where does the money go?' Canada Soccer gets a red card for its finances

Canada Soccer's Olympic espionage debacle has lifted the veil on years of turmoil inside the organization racked by internal and financial problems, and which has been criticized for a lack of transparency. 

In nearly 40 interviews with people tied to Canada Soccer, Radio-Canada has learned of infighting and fears of funds being mismanaged as a deal with a third party has stripped its teams of their ability to make profits.

Canada Soccer has been mired in scandal despite the recent success of both the men's and women's national teams. 

Radio-Canada has interviewed employees, players, former players, executives, coaches and agents. Almost all of them requested that their names not be used in this report because they feared repercussions. 

They raised numerous issues: lack of transparency, spending of public funds, financial opacity, a mysterious deal with a private firm, allegations of favouritism, widespread spying and a toxic environment. 

"It's a hornet's nest, everyone's keeping their mouth shut," said one former executive.

The prevailing view among the sources who spoke to Radio-Canada was that, for the past two decades, the administrators of Canada Soccer prioritized loyalty to federation bosses and their own interests. 

Case in point: Canada Soccer executives negotiated a deal with Canada Soccer Business (CSB), a private firm, which took effect in 2019. The deal saw Canada Soccer give CSB broadcast rights for Canadian national team games and the right to unilaterally negotiate sponsorship deals and claim all revenue from those deals. 

Canada Soccer has never publicly revealed the details of this deal. Radio-Canada obtained documents outlining the agreement. TSN first reported on it in 2022.

In exchange, Canada