Canadian Soccer Talk: CPL and its search for global relevance
CPL executive vice president Costa Smyrniotis spoke to TFC Republic about the league's long-term vision both on and off the field.
These are heady days for the Canadian Premier League as Canada's top domestic men's division has enjoyed one of its big boosts in visibility this year since its inaugural season 2019.
CPL teams defeated MLS clubs en route to reaching the semifinals of the 2024 Canadian Championship. Both Forge FC and Cavalry FC competed in the Concacaf Champions Cup, rubbing shoulders with some of the biggest teams in North America. And Forge made headlines last month when it sold Canadian striker Kwasi Poku to Belgian club RWD Molenbeek for a league-record transfer fee reported to be worth nearly one million dollars.
Costa Smyrniotis has been executive vice president of the CPL since last April after previously serving as Forge's GM. He believes Forge’s consistent performances on the continental stage has raised the profile of the entire league both here and abroad.
“One of the mandates in terms of putting this league together was not only to be locally relevant, we needed to be relevant in Concacaf. As part of the initial days at Forge, that was a key piece: we needed to get to Concacaf, and we needed to show well, not only as a club, but we needed to show well to show off the league and the Canadian talent. ... That's our showcase piece to the outside world,” Smyrniotis said.
TFC Republic spoke to Costa Smyrniotis about the long-term vision of the CPL both and the challenges he faces in helping the league attain its goals.
Listen to the full audio clip below:
