Former track and field athlete Charmaine Crooks has been named the new president of the Football Canada Association. The 60-year-old succeeds Nick Bontis, who resigned following a protest by the country’s women footballers in a fight for equal treatment.
Crooks, who is also the first woman and black person to hold the post, has served as vice president of Canada Soccer for the past two years.
The Olympic champions around captain Christine Sinclair are fighting for equal pay and against the alleged lack of support from the national association. At the SheBelieves Cup almost two weeks ago, the players protested in the game against the USA (0-2) with purple T-shirts that read “enough is enough” during the national anthem.
“I know and understand the demands that are being placed on us and I am confident that we will be able to make real progress for our national teams all the way down to our base,” said Crooks, who was the first Canadian who has participated in five Olympic Games.
Bontis resigned on Tuesday with immediate effect. He is a “proponent” of equality between women’s and men’s national teams and sees “real potential” in it. At the same time, he also recognizes “that this moment requires a change,” Bontis said in a statement.