Victor Montagliani stood on a stage before soccer’s biggest decision-makers this spring and spoke about what it takes to be a good leader.
The head of the sport across North and Central America and the Caribbean talked about how broken the organization — known as CONCACAF — was when he took over as president a decade ago.
“We were bankrupt — morally, financially and especially in terms of football,” he told the 76th FIFA Congress in April.
“Rebuilding required accountability, transparency and people who believed football mattered more than preserving the status quo. Because let me be frank, leadership is not about power; leadership is about service.”
Now, months later, the 60-year-old Canadian is emerging as a possible replacement for embattled FIFA president Gianni Infantino. The global soccer body is facing a leadership crisis after Infantino’s failed plan to sell a stake in the World Cup sparked calls for his resignation.
It wouldn’t be the first time Montagliani has stepped into the top job at a soccer federation in turmoil.
Soccer has always been central to Montagliani’s life.
He spoke at the FIFA congress in April about how his love for the sport began when he was five years old, playing at Grandview Legion, just kilometres away from where the sport’s power brokers were gathered on Vancouver’s waterfront.
“I grew up surrounded by the game here,” the CONCACAF president and FIFA vice president said. “On local parks, pitches, in clubhouses and in the streets, where football meant belonging, identity and pride. My teammates back then came from across North and Central America, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, South America, Oceania and Africa … Different languages, different cultures, but one game.”
His father, Luciano Montagliani, was the president of Columbus FC, a historic Vancouver soccer club founded to give the many Italian immigrants who’d settled in the city’s east end a place to play.
Vancouver Whitecaps legend Bob Lenarduzzi’s brothers played for Columbus, and he’s known Victor Montagliani since he was a kid.
Even then, he was strong-willed, said the 71-year-old Canada Soccer Hall of Famer.
“He knows what he wants,” Lenarduzzi said. “Just watching him evolve through B.C. Soccer, becoming the president there, and then setting his eyes on the national presidency, and then of course CONCACAF after that, and as a result of CONCACAF, he’s a FIFA vice president. So he has to be laser-focused for that kind of stuff, and he clearly is.”
Montagliani played for Columbus and Canada’s men’s futsal — five-a-side soccer — team until an ankle injury ended his playing career at 25.
As he made his way through a political science degree at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C., and into the insurance industry, his connection with the game persisted.
Montagliani got involved with B.C. Soccer in the early 2000s and became president in 2004. He joined Canada Soccer’s executive committee in 2005, and grew increasingly entrenched in the national sports organization, where he was elected president in May 2012.
His love for Canadian soccer has never abated, said Peter Augruso, Canada Soccer’s current president.
“He really wears his heart on his sleeve with respect to soccer in Canada,” he said.
“For Vic, it’s always about what can we do better for Canada? How’s Canada going to do this, and how’s Canada going to qualify for that? I think he’s sometimes a little bit conflicted in that he’s president of CONCACAF, so all the 41 countries are sort of under his leadership, but yet he’s got a special place for Canada.”
By the time he was elected president, Montagliani was already working on plans to bring the 2026 World Cup to Canada.
The idea was first sparked at a dinner he’d had with Canada Soccer’s then general secretary, Peter Montopoli, and Walter Sieber, former director general of sports for the Montreal Olympics.
The national sports organization officially announced its intent to bid for the tournament in a 2014 strategic planning document, and Montagliani began speaking with political and business leaders to shore up support.
“I think he was really looking forward to showcasing Canada and how we can host a major event,” Augruso said.
“He also wanted to advance sort of professional soccer in Canada, and that’s how the (Canadian Premier League) got its genesis. We couldn’t host it without having a men’s domestic league, so that was the start of that. And he always wants to raise Canada’s international influence, right? So become more active and influential within CONCACAF and FIFA. That was sort of why he wanted to bring it here.”
Montagliani’s role in global soccer grew in 2015 after several FIFA officials were indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice in a sprawling bribery case. The then-Canada Soccer president was named to a committee tasked with keeping CONCACAF operating in the wake of the corruption scandal.
He ran for CONCACAF president the following year on a platform of cleaning up and uniting the federation, and won 25-16 over the president of the Bermuda Football Association.
“We have started to put CONCACAF back into shape, but we know that cleaning up our act is not something that will happen in a couple of days — we are doing this acting with diligence,” he said at the time.
Montagliani’s time in soccer hasn’t been without scrutiny.
There were calls for his suspension as CONCACAF president in 2021 after a former coach of Canada’s U-20 women’s team was charged with sexual offences dating back to when Montagliani chaired the national teams committee.
He was also questioned by a parliamentary committee over the controversial Canada Soccer Business deal, which sparked a labour battle between national team players and Canada Soccer.
During Montagliani’s tenure, though, CONCACAF has operated relatively smoothly, with three of its 41 member associations hosting the biggest-ever World Cup this summer.
In soccer circles, “Big Vic” is known as a warm, caring person who’s always ready to chip in, Augruso said.
“He’d give you the shirt off his back if you needed it,” he said. “He’s one to help you whether you ask for it or not … he’s always there to lend an ear as well. So he’s a huge advocate and champion for Canadian soccer. And I love the fact that he’s the CONCACAF president, and that I can turn to him at any time to help Canada Soccer, just discuss issues that may arise.”
Montagliani was unanimously re-elected CONCACAF president in 2023, and is set to hold the post through 2027.
Montagliani has not put his name forward for FIFA’s presidential election, set to take place in March. Candidates have until Nov. 18 to announce their bid.
But the controversy surrounding Infantino has sparked talk about potential successors, with Montagliani’s name circulating prominently enough that Prime Minister Mark Carney was asked to weigh in earlier this month.
He noted that picking FIFA’s president isn’t up to international politicians, but said he has tremendous respect for Montagliani.
“He’s an exceptional individual; he’s a credit to Canada, credit to football,” the prime minister said. “He’s done a very good job in his role at CONCACAF … Loves the game. Loves the game.”
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