| CONCACAF | |
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| Founded | 1912 |
|---|---|
| FIFA affiliation | 1913 |
| CONCACAF affiliation | 1961 |
| President | Dominique Mastraecci |
The Canadian Soccer Association is the governing body of soccer (association football) in Canada. It is a volunteer based organization which oversees the senior men's and women's national teams for international play, as well as the respective junior sides (U-20 and U-17 for men and women). Internally, it looks over national amateur club championships for both National Senior Men and Senior Women, U-18, U-16 and U-14 (all levels boys and girls). Provincial and municipal associations are responsible for organizing most amateur leagues and refereeing appointments.
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History
The founding meeting of the Dominion of Canada Football Association took place on May 24, 1912. The organization joined FIFA in 1913. In 1928, the FA resigned from FIFA until 1946, following the example of British associations in a dispute over broken time payments to amateur players.
The Association has hosted three FIFA tournaments, the FIFA U-17 World Cup Canada 1987, the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Canada 2002, and the FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007. The Association is expected to make a bid for the FIFA Women's World Cup 2015.
The Association's national teams have won seven confederation championships. The senior men won the 1985 CONCACAF Men's Championship and the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup; the senior women won the 1998 CONCACAF Women's Championship. The men's youth team won the 1986 and 1996 CONCACAF U-20 Championship while the women's youth team won the 2004 and 2008 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship.
Leagues and cups
At the professional level, Canada's main competition is the Nutrilite Canadian Championship. In 2008, the Impact de Montréal won the inaugural competition ahead of Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC. By finishing first, the Impact won the Voyageurs Cup and qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League 2008-09 season.
The 2009 Nutrilite Canadian Championship, again featuring Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver, ran from 6 May to 18 June. As the 2009 champion, Toronto FC qualifies for the
At the Tier II pro level, in May 2009, the Canadian Soccer League received conditional approval as Canada's national professional soccer league; this is the first time a league has been accorded this status in 16 years. CSL teams do not currently participate in the Canadian Championship, however the CSA is considering the CSL's interest in having its champion becoming the 4th member in the tournament.
At the amateur level, Canada's club competitions fall under the BMO National Championships. The senior champions are awarded The Challenge Trophy (men) and The Jubilee Trophy (women). Club championships are also organized in the U-18, U-16, U-14 and masters divisions.
Affiliated associations
Senior level
- Canada men's national soccer team
- Canada women's national soccer team
- Canada men's national beach soccer team
- Canada men's national cerebral palsy soccer team
- Canada men's national futsal team
Youth sides
- Canada U-23 (Olympic) men's national soccer team
- Canada U-20 men's national soccer team
- Canada U-20 women's national soccer team
- Canada U-17 men's national soccer team
- Canada U-17 women's national soccer team
See also
References
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
