Canada Soccer chief executive Kevin Blue was on his way to a work dinner in Ottawa early one evening two weeks ago when he received a phone call he’d been waiting on for days.

A wealthy Canadian soccer fan told Blue he was ready to give hundreds of thousands of dollars to the federation.

The commitment capped a four-month recruiting process during which Blue and the donor had a half-dozen meetings, spoke on the phone some 15 or 20 times, and exchanged countless messages. While Blue didn’t want to be more specific about the donor or their gift without their permission, he was clear about the significance.

“The skill in this is helping someone connect with what they are passionate in supporting, and it obviously feels great to secure a commitment like that,” Blue said in an interview on Thursday with TSN. “It shows progress that people are stepping forward in meaningful ways.”

Progress off the pitch is something many Canadian soccer fans have been desperate to see from the national federation. Before Blue’s hiring in February 2024, Canada Soccer had been ensnared for several years in controversy and battles for control of money and power.

In March 2023, players on the national women’s soccer team testified in Ottawa before the Heritage Committee about how mismanaged the organization had become. Soccer legend Christine Sinclair testified that players didn’t trust Canada Soccer and said it had a “culture of secrecy and obstruction.”

Two months later, then-federal sports minister Pascale St-Onge criticized Canada Soccer for a lack of financial transparency.

But this seems to be a new era for Canada Soccer.

To this point, after a year on the job, Blue has secured commitments for $8.5 million worth of donations from more than a half-dozen well-to-do Canadians. Negotiations with others are in process, and Canada Soccer plans to reveal details on Monday about the relaunch of Canada Red, the organization's philanthropic effort aimed at attracting more modest annual........

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