Canadian Premier League Open To All-Star Game

During a recent state of the union chat with John Molinaro, Canadian Premier League commissioner David Clanachan has revealed that the league is open to scheduling an annual all-star game, provided that it’s something that the fans want.

Clanachan went on to say that finding a good time for such an event would be the hardest part: the first-ever Canadian Premier League season saw clubs contend with a congested league schedule that threw several midweek games into the mix, which was already a tough fitness test for players even before Canadian Championship matches came into the equation.

If the all-star game was to become a more serious thought, the league would need to solve a scheduling puzzle so as to not overload its clubs:

I’d love to hear what the fans and supporters have to say about that, because all-star games are very difficult to do, and I think leagues have always struggled on how to do them. It’s gone from being a real reward for the players in any sport to being more of an event. If we were to do one, it would have to be something that was very entertaining that supporters would want to see happen. It’s very difficult to do (an all-star game) in the season we play in, because of things like our schedule, the Canadian Championship, Concacaf League, the FIFA breaks. We also have to be wary of not running our teams into the ground, so you have to balance the two.

David Clanachan

It’s easy to see the allure of watching a game where Tristan Borges links up with Nico Pasquotti, though it isn’t known what kind of opposition the league would even set up: would a European club arrive for a friendly match? Would the the Canadian Premier League divide its all-stars into east and west sides to square off against one another?

There’s also the possibility that, like MLS, it finds another league willing to put all-stars together in an effort to cross-promote both leagues. In any event, Clanachan says that such a venture needs to be done with intent if it’s to be done at all.

We’re not against the idea of an all-star game, but we’d want to see the proper case for it. We shouldn’t do it just for the sake of doing it. It should have a purpose.

David Clanachan

While the league commissioner certainly didn’t write off the possibility of such a venture, it sounds like the idea is far from fruition for the time being. All-star games are a fun spectacle, but for now there are bigger fish to fry: the log-jam of expansion is supposedly breaking, and Clanachan is working on schedule improvements for the 2020 season, too.

The commissioner also pondered the question about whether a three team playoff might make more sense for the league, suggesting that the process of determining a champion may be subject to change in the near future.

As the league grows, changes are inevitable – and among them might include the addition of a CPL All-Star game, so long as organizing the event makes sense for the league. For now, it’s all speculation.

For the curious, here’s a fan-selected best eleven showing what an inaugural season all-stars side might have looked like.

Source: Canadian Premier League