Former Vancouver Whitecaps and Canada U-20 women's soccer coach Bob Birarda arrives at provincial court for his sentencing hearing in North Vancouver, B.C., on Friday, September 2, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
OTTAWA – The former president of Canada Soccer faced questions Thursday at a parliamentary committee over the hiring and conduct of a disgraced former coach by a B.C. community club.
Steven Reed served as president of Canada Soccer from 2017 to 2020 and previously as president of BC Soccer from 2006 to 2009. He also served in a vice-president role and as chair of the finance committee for Canada Soccer.
He says he was unaware that former Canadian women’s soccer head coach Bob Birarda had been hired by a community club until 2017. Birarda was sentenced to nearly 16 months in jail in 2022 for sex offences that “immeasurably harmed” four female teenage athletes.
After roughly 30 minutes of questioning, the committee took the decision to have Reed answer questions under oath.
Reed was repeatedly questioned by politicians about the lack of action he allegedly took when it came to protecting players from Birarda.
Reed says the soccer system at the time didn’t have mechanisms in place to track coaches who may have been accused of misconduct.
This report was first published by The Canadian Press on April 27, 2023.
