Former player Jason deVos named Canada Soccer’s interim general secretary | CBC Sports

Former Canada captain Jason deVos has been named interim general secretary of Canada Soccer.

The Canada Soccer Hall of Famer, who is currently the governing body’s director of development, steps in for Earl Cochrane whose departure as Canada Soccer’s top staffer was announced Thursday.

President Nick Bontis resigned in late February, acknowledging change is needed to conclude the ongoing labour dispute with the Canadian men’s national teams.

DeVos, a reliable centre back from Appin, Ont., who won 49 caps for Canada from 1997 to 2004, captained the Canadian men to the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

“On behalf of the board, I want to thank Jason for taking on this responsibility at an important time,” Canada Soccer interim president Charmaine Crooks said in a statement. “We look forward to working alongside Jason and the transition team as we continue to work collectively towards building and growing the game in Canada.”

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Other members of Canada Soccer’s “transition leadership team” are interim vice-president Kelly Brown, chief operating officer Mathieu Chamberland, chief financial officer Sean Heffernan and Paulo Senra, head of public relations and communications.

Canada Soccer says deVos, who takes on the new role May 12, “will become the operational leader of the organization, working closely with the board of directors, in consultation with the Canada Soccer membership and key stakeholders.”

“I’d like to thank the board for their trust and am committed to working every day to ensure we continue building relationships and find positive resolutions on a variety of key matters facing our association and membership,” DeVos said in a statement.

“As a former player, I know and understand what it takes to compete, and enhancing the performance environment of our players will be a priority.”

With deVos taking a new role, Dave Nutt becomes interim director of development.

The 49-year-old DeVos, who has been with the governing body for the last six years, is currently a member of the Canada Soccer executive leadership team. He also served on John Herdman’s coaching staff at last year’s World Cup in Qatar.

DeVos played in Britain for Darlington, Dundee United, Wigan Athletic and Ipswich Town after stops in Canada with the London Lasers, Kitchener Kickers and Montreal Impact.

He was named Canada Soccer Player of the Year in 2002.