Sanctioned soccer pay-to-play stream-model will never produce the best players to represent your country.

"I can't afford most of these clubs in my area"

(Facebook comment 2025)

Sanctioned soccer pay-to-play stream-model will never produce the best players to represent your country. That same thing applies to your neighbourhood, to your municipality, to your region, to your province and so on. The reason and logic (much like Delay-Deny-Defend-Ignore tactics by private health companies or defunct-Soviet's style anti-dissent methods); you or aspiring players are simply crushed into silence, apathy and cast aside by the current soccer development participation models.

"First they think about money, then about quality and results," the Swedish soccer player said regarding the sport in the U.S. "It has to be said that the sport is expensive, very expensive. For example, in order for my children to play in a good football team, I have to pay $3,500 per child. It's not for the figure, but for the whole concept." - NEWSWEEK, 2019

"...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." - CBC, 2025

"...Rosario is a small, patchy football pitch, overlooked by decaying tenements. It is the home of a children's team known as the Grandoli Football Club. The club is run by parents in a rough and tough working-class neighbourhood and provides training and league games for local children. - BBC NEWS, 2010

It's 2025, and sanctioned soccer still doesn't really have the interest of (all) soccer enthusiasts. But rather ONLY of those that can afford to pay. No one is asking for DEI or woke policies but be self-critical; much like Darwin's theory of evolution, unless we have a healthy, active AND large sample of population survival (in this case competitive skills presence); Canada will disappear from international competitive soccer or remain "humpf-mediocre".

"For greater clarity" the exact targeted wording

[Hypocritical] branding rules:

"except for sponsorship branding" 

"sponsor may not be a soccer club, which is not recognized by FIFA"

"No team may display banners, posters, or other advertisement
of any soccer entity other than the registered club"

On a cursory overview of the logos below; whose priority was in mind when these very targeted rules were presented? Are we so naive to believe that [quote from CBC article] "It's just far easier to have a simple rule … and make it universal for everyone..."?

"Universal" enough to cover alcohol, tobacco, political, religious influences? And distinguish it from social, cultural, neighbourhood community and commercial entities? Or to satisfy the pocket books of financially interested clubs by excluding others?

So, today the rationale is: no unrecognized FIFA soccer club or soccer entity. Their problem seems to be with the words soccer or club in the entity's name.

What about tomorrow? A year from now say, a Somali, Ukrainian, Rohingya, Colombian, Uyghurs, etc. community organization decides to have sports related activities to help welcome New Canadians. Then, because of their success and hard work in organizing these activities, decide to enter teams into "sanctioned soccer" and compete alongside the best of the best? Not on a separate league [like they are proposing]; a single league where everyone plays everyone else equally and earns their spot equally? No one is asking for charity here. Can they wear their community logos then? 

If these rules are at such time further revised, then we will now their objective is not as harmless as they want you to believe. People, entities will then have a case for human rights; for commercial rights; heck, sports rights.

(1) A logo is part of their identity

(2) New rule soccer dispute

(3) Jan. 24, 2023 full 30 min. CBC Newscast

 

The Great White North. Separate but [NOT] equal?

Local Somalian soccer group says 'discriminatory' rules left players sidelined - CBC News · Posted: Jan 24, 2023 4:00 AM EST | Last Updated: January 24

Have you ever heard of redlining? Separate but equal?  This is the worst kind of prejudice and discrimination. The one whitewashed with "rules and regulations" intended to rationalize exclusion of one group. I didn't want to say it... I didn't want to believe it, but here we are, the Great White North, where soccer organizations obviously have [allegedly] a tiny racist minority of people, well placed in powerful roles within the governing organizations or within large clubs with substantial financial clout. And even worst, a larger complacent majority, unwittingly or disinterested just following along.

From the local level, the regional, provincial & national level you have had nothing but the same stream of people with the same stream of thinking: privileged, status-quo mentality, implementing and enforcing decades old, chaotic, contradictory, financially detrimental and exclusionary participation rules, and then call it "sanctioned soccer". I don't see the City of Ottawa emphasizing "drink from your sanctioned water supply"? I don't hear our local BIA saying "use only your sanctioned business"; your local government "vote for your sanctioned politician"? Or funnier yet, the local cartel saying "better use your sanctioned cocaine!" Ludicrous! Why; because they know there is (quite large) "unsanctioned" soccer participation. These same self proclaimed proponents of "Soccer for all!"; actually (a) have made no effort to bring in the larger community (in fact they are losing membership), (b) made it exceptionally difficult to do so; and worst of all (c) resorted to KGB style policing of Websites? Really? We have mentioned this exact same practice in previous posts. Have the "governing organizations" not learned anything from recent national embarrassing news?

We, and many others, have been complaining of lack of transparency, clear participation rules, disproportionate financial penalties on smaller clubs; and on the inverse a "whack-a-mole spaghetti chaos" of intertwining and contradictory rules between levels of governance, between governing regions, and between uncooperative paid employees of so called not-for-profit Soccer organizations. Complaints for years! (Decades I am sure, if we look at other past immigration to Canada).  But let's not steal SURADs thunder.  They deserve to be there with the best, and be proud to be where and when they can. By their own grit.

The greatest obstacle & struggle is the frustrating & suffocating silence of the majority.

CONTINUE Reading (EODSA League Rules as exactly worded)