Canada Soccer general secretary and CEO Kevin Blue speaks during a news conference in Vancouver, on May 1.ETHAN CAIRNS/The Canadian Press
It was a goal heard around the country and watched around the world.
As the only round-of-32 game on the docket last Sunday, Canada and South Africa had the World Cup to themselves. Canadian midfielder Stephen Eustáquio made the most of it, hammering a right-footed shot past South African goalkeeper Ronwen Williams in stoppage time for a dramatic 1-0 win.
It was Canada’s first-ever knockout round win at the men’s tournament.
Canadians from coast to coast to coast cheered for soccer history, perhaps no one louder than Kevin Blue, Canada Soccer’s chief executive officer and general secretary.
The hope is there is more to celebrate Saturday when the 30th-ranked Canadians take on No. 7 Morocco in round-of-16 play in Houston.
Since arriving in 2024, Blue has worked to reshape the organization, overseeing major changes to its code of conduct and improving its finances, and working to restore its reputation after a series of damaging incidents.
He has signed men’s coach Jesse Marsch to a new contract, expanded youth and grassroots programs and moved plans for a national training centre closer to reality.
Canada head coach Jesse Marsch has led the team to its most successful World Cup outing to date.Manu Fernandez/The Associated Press
Under Blue, Canada Soccer has ended years of labour unrest with its men’s and women’s teams in a deal centred around pay equity.
A contentious marketing deal with Canadian Soccer Media & Entertainment that preceded Blue’s arrival has been renegotiated. And the bottom line is improving, with Canada Soccer now looking at a surplus rather than a deficit.
Blue has boosted philanthropy, using some of the money to help hire marquee coaches for the men and women in Marsch and Casey Stoney, respectively.
“I’m very proud of the group that is here working on all these things, whether this be the players, the coaches, the staff and the board. … There’s been a lot of progress made by a lot of different stakeholders,” Blue said in an interview.
For Canada Soccer, the World Cup is also a once‑in‑a-generation opportunity to grow the sport across the country, and boost financial and political support for the organization.
Two years ago, the soccer federation was reeling from the Paris Olympics drone-spying scandal in which the Canadian team was caught flying drones over New Zealand practice sessions.
Women’s coach Bev Priestman, assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joey Lombardi eventually left the organization, handed one-year bans by FIFA.
In all, Canada Soccer disciplined 14 coaches and administrative staff in the wake of the drone scandal. It says it has made changes and moved on. But it has not been forthcoming in detailing who the 14 were and what they did.
Blue dismisses the matter as a “two-year-old story” that was handled appropriately at the time. He acknowledged Canada Soccer used “non-disparagement agreements” as part of its settlements with coaches involved in spying, but said that’s standard practice across the industry.
“We dealt with the issues administratively in what we felt was an appropriate and comprehensive fashion and aligned with what I think is a reasonable balance of privacy and communicativeness when it comes to HR issues,” Blue said.
The sport’s governing body had been dogged by problems prior to Blue’s arrival, and critics say a tendency toward secrecy remains.
In July, 2022, an independent review concluded Canada Soccer “mishandled” sexual-harassment allegations in 2008 against Bob Birarda, then the under-20 women’s coach. Birarda pled guilty to three counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual touching involving four female teenage athletes.
The review, conducted by McLaren Global Sport Solutions and commissioned by Canada Soccer, said the governing body was described by many as “dysfunctional and inefficient,” with “significant leadership upheaval and transition at the highest levels” in 2007 and 2008.
In February, 2023, contentious labour negotiations prompted the Canadian women to down tools briefly in advance of the SheBelieves Cup. The team reluctantly returned to the pitch under the threat of legal action from Canada Soccer.
And just days before Blue’s appointment in 2024, the Canadian Soccer Players Association, which represents the Canadian women’s team, filed a $40-million lawsuit against 15 current and former board members of Canada Soccer alleging “negligence and breach of fiduciary duty.”
At the heart of the lawsuit was a controversial 2018 deal that saw Canada Soccer give up its marketing and sponsorship rights in exchange for an annual fee. No details of the original agreement were ever made public.
From left to right: Richie Laryea, Kevin Blue, Secretary of State (Sport) Adam van Koeverden and Jonathan Osorio at an event unveiling Canada’s 2026 World Cup jerseys in Toronto, on March 16.Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press
Likewise, Canada Soccer has released only a summary from the detailed report on the drone-spying scandal. The summary made clear the “practice of conducting surreptitious surveillance of opponents” predated the Paris Olympics.
In March, 2025, former Canadian men’s coach John Herdman was found by a three-person, independent disciplinary committee to have “committed misconduct” under the Canada Soccer Disciplinary Code. The misconduct was not explained.
In the wake of the Birarda report, Canada Soccer pointed to past reforms such as a whistle-blower policy, code of conduct and ethics and the Canada Soccer Disciplinary Code.
The drone scandal prompted more institutional change, including mandated reporting of unethical behaviour, ethics training for coaches and staff and the creation of a new independent audit and compliance committee.
But Richard McLaren, a lawyer who wrote the Birarda report, said that for an organization trying to rebuild in the face of scrutiny, a continued focus on secrecy is a problem. Canada Soccer’s board wanted the Birarda report kept private, a condition McLaren refused to accept.
“Privacy is something you can hide behind, or you can say it has been referred to the ‘ethics committee.’ I always say the ethics committee is the graveyard of bad intentions,” he said.
“If a sport doesn’t want to be very open in terms of how they’re applying their rules and using the rules, you’ve got a problem.”
Andrea Neil, a former national team player and coach who represented Canada 132 times, is not convinced the organization has meaningfully confronted what she calls an underlying culture of defensiveness, secrecy and lack of accountability. The fact people who were complicit in drone spying were allowed to stay on the payroll hurts the organization’s credibility, she said in an interview.
“The joy on the field right now is a beautiful thing, and this team has given the country real reasons to be proud,” she added in a statement. “That’s exactly why what happens off the field matters so much.”
Neil said that Canada Soccer accepted the recommendations in McLaren’s report in 2022 but, from her viewpoint, has yet to properly reckon with its past. “The individual events are different … but the organizational response to harm has been remarkably similar.”
Under Blue, Canada Soccer has been more forthcoming in some areas, however – offering updates on subjects ranging from finances to coaching searches. The renegotiated deal with Canadian Soccer Media & Entertainment was released in full.
Former Canada captain Christine Sinclair, who led the fight for pay equity, believes the future is bright at Canada Soccer.
She saw past missteps firsthand, citing the 2015 Women’s World Cup on home soil as a missed opportunity.
“A great moment in our team, in our country, in our sport, but nothing came of it,” she said in an interview.
She believes that won’t happen this time.
“With Kevin leading the charge, it’s in great hands. The players love him. … It seems like he’s pushing things in the right direction. It makes me excited for the future.”
Blue arrived from Golf Canada where he had spent a little more than three years as chief sport officer. Prior to that, he honed his management and fundraising skills as director of athletics at the University of California, Davis, and in a variety of roles in Stanford University athletics.
How Canada’s black ‘away’ jersey became a symbol of World Cup success
Ask Blue about what kind of organization he inherited in early 2024, and he diplomatically cites the “hard work” of a “lot of good people” in building the sport.
“But the reason they hired me was, I believe, to professionalize the business side of the operation and professionalize the management and leadership of the organization.”
Blue has helped turn around Canada Soccer’s bottom line. It expects revenues of $62-million this year, up from $40-million in 2025.
Marsch has also proved to be a popular choice as coach.
A search panel that included former Canadian internationals Atiba Hutchinson, Julian de Guzman and Tosaint Ricketts concluded that Marsch’s style of play was the perfect fit for a young Canadian team long on athleticism and speed.
And for Blue, Marsch understood the need to be an ambassador for the sport and to be involved in its philanthropic and commercial side.
“His earnest desire to build and transform the sport from the position of men’s national team coach was something also that is the right fit for the stage and maturity that our sport is at in Canada,” Blue said.
Stoney, meanwhile, has proved to be a breath of fresh air. Having coached Manchester United and won NWSL coach of the year honours with the San Diego Wave, the former England captain boasts impeccable credentials.
And while Stoney has no issues calling a spade a spade when it comes to player performance, Blue has observed how she cares about her charges.
“Our players are the most important asset that we have in the national team programs and we care about them as people. And Casey embodied this.”
Stoney and the women will launch their qualifying campaign for the 2027 World Cup at the eight-team CONCACAF W Championship this fall.
The focus is on the Canadian men, for now. Blue called them “a special group of people.”
“Everyone’s trying to do the absolute best to make Canada proud,” he said.