Placentino: CPL Expansion Will ‘Show Who Quebec Really Is’

Now that the cat is out of the bag for the Canadian Premier League expanding to Quebec, details seem to be coming fast and furious about the impending project – one that is now expected to be ready for kickoff next year.

Speaking with Radio Canada Sports en francais, former CF Montreal midfielder Rocco Placentino – who is currently the sporting director of Ligue1 Quebec’s CS Saint-Laurent – has revealed himself to be ‘greatly involved’ with the project.

“There are many details I can’t share today, but my dream of the past five years, to have a CPL team in Quebec, has finally come true,” reveals the 43-year-old, who is rumoured to be the expansion team’s future President.

The group of buyers is purported to include American American businessman Matt Rizzetta, who has invested in football clubs in North America and Europe, Montreal businessman Angelo Pasto, and other to-be-unveiled Quebecois entrepreneurs. Placentino says it was important that Quebecers be heavily involved in the project from the ground up.

While it has been a year-and-a-half since these investors began taking concrete steps towards landing an agreement with the CPL, the arrival of James Johnson to Canadian Soccer Business has helped the league’s expansion to La Belle Province pick up the pace, ending years of proverbial log jams within the province.

Placentino says the group behind the venture will be formally recognized soon enough, with the Canadian Premier League now expected to make an expansion announcement in the near future. He says the club will formally launch in September before it begins operations for kickoff next year.

Flashback: CPL Goes ‘Hands On’ With Quebec Expansion Plans

Placentino could not confirm whether the expansion team will plant a flag in Montreal, Laval, or Quebec City, with all three having been longstanding hotspots of expansion interest. This season saw the Canadian Premier League go on tour in Quebec City, where Mayor Bruno Marchand has been supportive of expansion interest at a municipal level.

“The important thing is that we’re going to have a team in Quebec,” says Placentino. “Regardless of the location, whether it’s Quebec City, Laval, or Montreal, the important thing is to know what the project is: it’s a Quebec project above all else.”

The rumoured Club President did refer to Boreale Stadium, home ground of the Montreal Roses, as an ‘anchor point’, saying that he knows Roses co-owner Jean-Francois Crevier, someone who shares the same vision for the sport. For now, however, the expansion’s specific destination within La Belle Province remains a mystery.

If the Roses and the upcoming CPL team do wind up sharing a stadium, Placentino says it’s not a competition and the two sides can co-exist – similarly, he believes the future Quebecois CPL side can work closely with Major League Soccer’s CF Montreal, too.

“If we’re really strong in soccer in Quebec, it’s thanks to the Saputo family. We’d like to work with CF Montreal so that players who aren’t on the first team can be loaned to the CPL team in Quebec, rather than Halifax or Calgary. These players could stay at home.”

The Canadian Premier League has seen plenty of Quebecois talent flurish, and Placentino says there’s plenty of more local talent, many with international flavours, still waiting for their shot at the big leagues – something he feels the rest of the country has overlooked.

“The goal of this project is to show who Quebec really is. We want the international community to know that we have stars here, as we did with Ismael Kone, Moise Bombito, Mathieu Choiniere, Sam Piette. We have so many good players and coaches. Mauro Biello, Marc Dos Santos, Wilfried Nancy. We are a province with a wealth of soccer talent.”

Source: Radio Canada Sports

Header Image Photo Credit: Pascal Clement