Pacific FC head coach Pa-Modou Kah said he believes sa国际传媒 Soccer is catering more to Major League Soccer than the Canadian Premier League when it comes to the Canadian Championship.
sa国际传媒 Soccer will finally announce today the date and venue for the Canadian Championship semifinal between Island-based Pacific FC of the CPL and Toronto FC of MLS. But it already got an earful from Kah.
The originally set dates for the semifinals, when the Canadian Championship schedule was released in July, were Tuesday or today. That was later tentatively shifted to between Oct. 5 to Oct. 9, but Kah indicated that time frame won鈥檛 be happening.
鈥淚t was supposed to be Toronto in that window but somehow things got changed,鈥� Kah told reporters in his media conference Tuesday, ahead of tonight鈥檚 CPL game against Valour FC at IG Field in Winnipeg.
鈥淭hat window was reserved for the Canadian Championship. A lot of people are asking questions. They want to know. I don鈥檛 know what [sa国际传媒 Soccer] is doing. That shows a little bit of amateurism. Cup games are set dates and everybody plays on that set date. I think people are looking maybe to help the bigger teams.鈥�
Next week falls within the FIFA international window for 2022 World Cup qualifying when club teams are required to release players to their national teams. MLS clubs are far more affected by that than CPL teams. Toronto FC has six players who have been involved in earlier rounds of 2022 World Cup qualifying with their national teams, including Richie Laryea and Jonathan Osorio with sa国际传媒, Kemar Lawrence with Jamaica, Chris Mavinga with Republic of Congo, Eriq Zavaleta with El Salvador and Yeferson Soteldo for Venezuela.
鈥淢LS teams have a roster of 30 players. You do have people to play the Cup game. Even if you do have internationals going away, it鈥檚 not like you can鈥檛 field a squad,鈥� said Kah.
鈥淪o, who is [sa国际传媒 Soccer] catering to and who do they want to cater to? This game was supposed to be played between Oct. 5 and Oct. 9. Toronto has international players. That鈥檚 not my problem. So why is [sa国际传媒 Soccer] catering to them? It鈥檚 just the reality of it. Play the game. I find it a little bit strange we cannot play in this window if it is already set. There鈥檚 other little questions you have. What is the reason behind it?鈥�
Kah continued his broadside.
鈥淲e have two CPL 颅semifinalists against two MLS semifinalists [the other semifinal features Forge FC of CPL and CF Montreal of MLS]. But who are they catering to?鈥� he said.
鈥淓verywhere around the world where there鈥檚 Cup games, you just don鈥檛 change the venues and just don鈥檛 change the dates. It鈥檚 already set so why are we changing it? To cater to who? This was supposed to be done right after the [quarter-final round] on Sept. 22. It should have been announced on Sept. 23rd. We should not wait six days. To me, that shows [sa国际传媒 Soccer] doesn鈥檛 know what it鈥檚 doing. We have to start being professional. This is purely amateur. We have to sit and wait because they want to cater to whoever they want to cater to. It鈥檚 laughable.鈥�
Kah said an ideal situation is being fumbled.
鈥淭his is the best situation that could happen for Canadian football 鈥� two CPL teams against two MLS teams,鈥� he said.
鈥淲hy wouldn鈥檛 you play it up? Who are you catering to? They will not come out and say it but everybody knows.鈥�
CORNER KICKS: The CPL game today in Winnipeg between league-leading PFC (10-4-6) and sixth-place Valour (7-10-2) is at 4:45 p.m. PT. Rob Gale was recently fired as Valour FC head coach and GM and replaced by former Vancouver Whitecaps MLS assistant coach Phillip Dos Santos. Ironically, it was after losing to PFC in the opening round of the Canadian Championship last month that Dos Santos, and brother and Vancouver head coach Marc Dos Santos, were both fired by the Whitecaps. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the other side of football,鈥� said Kah. 鈥淲e鈥檙e hired to get fired, unfortunately. Hopefully [Phillip Dos Santos] will bounce back in the CPL.鈥�
