CSA, QSF will meet next week over turban ban

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Canadian Soccer News has learned that the Canadian Soccer Association has arranged to meet face to face with the Quebec Soccer Federation over their ban on turbans.

A Quebec Soccer source confirmed that members of QSF would fly out to Ottawa on Wednesday night to meet with the national governing body, in hopes of finding a resolution to their suspension.

As CSN first reported last night, and FIFA confirmed this morning, FIFA has "authorized the wearing of male head covers in all areas and on all levels of the Canadian football community."

This comes after the QSF voted earlier this week to uphold their ban, which prevents youth players from wearing turbans on the field. The CSA responded later in the day by re-asserting their position and outlining several reasons for the suspension.

At this point, with both camps firmly entrenched in their position and with it clear that the matter has become severely distorted – through issues like politics, religion and even pride – perhaps the biggest question is: who will be at the table when the two groups meet on Wednesday?

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On the CSA side, it will certainly be General Secretary Peter Montopoli and President Victor Montagliani. Montagliani has been the point man for much of the CSA’s communications so far and he represents the soccer side of the CSA. And Montopoli, who is traditionally quiet publicly but influential in private, is the man who leads all their business operations. They will both be keen to ensure that the CSA is not seen as weak on their first real test since governance reform was enacted, but neither is the type to cut off the nose to spite the face. Having said that, don't expect much movement, if any, from the CSA.

Who will attend on the QSF side is not as clear, and realistically, far more important.

With an issue like the turban ban, which has unfortunately become about much more than preventing children from playing soccer, who is leading the QSF next week will likely determine how long this stare down continues.

One thing that has become clear: Quebec president Martial Prud'homme is a lame duck president. When he was elected, he ran on a platform of allowing districts to vote how they want and it largely was what took him from relative obscurity to election.

Past president Dino Madonis was not the kind of man to rule by consensus and his hard nose approach to management, while it earned him respect, also had districts looking for an alternative to the Montreal centric approach by the end.

But now, with it being suggested that Prud'homme not only offered no advice or guidance before their original ban and their vote to re-assert it, one has to wonder what good it would do bringing him to the table.

His district, Lac Saint Louie – the richest in the province and one of its most successful — is also home to the community with the most number of Sikh players. His lack of influence is not only affecting those who wear turbans — but, as a district that more often than not sends teams to the national championships — he is affecting those who do not wear them as well.

If he is not able to create consensus among his province where he has direct interests involved, what point is there in having him sit down to try and negotiate a settlement?

In the leadership absence created by Prud'homme, QSF general manager Brigitte Frot has filled the power vacuum.

You’ll remember her from such quotes as, “They can play in their backyard. But not with official referees, not in the official rules of soccer. They have no choice,” and her assertions that turbans were a safety issue – but without an ounce of evidence of there ever having been an incident involving a turban.

She has barely moved off her statements and her reputation for not being the most conciliatory of people preceeds her. If she attends at all is also a question. She was away for nearly a year fighting to overcome a bout of cancer and it has been suggested that she has not being dealing well with the stress this has brought on her.

Her assistant GM Patrick Esparbès would be a good stand in. He has a depth of leadership experience as the former general manager of Québec Judo and is not bogged down by the political allegiances of the past.

But while his reputation for being clear headed would go a long way to resolving a dispute, which has long since spiraled out of control, what this situation needs is a composed hand to navigate the intricacies of an often complicated Quebec-CSA relationship.

That person should be Dino Madonis. Love him or hate him, Madonis still remains one of the most influential people in Quebec soccer in the last 20 years.

And while he may have officially stepped away from Quebec Soccer Federation, he is far from gone and has very much continued to have a say in the way that Quebec Soccer is run. Many suspect that it was him who called Joey Saputo, on behalf of the QSF, to ask the Impact president to speak up in support of finding a resolution.

In addition, an already established, even somewhat cordial, relationship with Madonis and the CSA’s Montagliani makes him an ideal candidate to assist it mediating this conflict to conclusion

Which, given the recent news out of FIFA, is less about turban wearing players rejoining the Quebec fields (that's clearly going to happen now), and more about ensuring that the QSF is able to save face from what can only be described as one, long PR disaster.

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