(Ottawa) Former Canada Soccer President Nick Bontis has apologized to star player Christine Sinclair for comments he doesn’t remember making, which he doesn’t dispute, but which make him feel ” terribly wrong.”

The elephant in the room of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage was identified early on by the former federation leader, who says “few have done as much” as Christine Sinclair for the game in the country and around the world .

Three weeks ago, at the committee table, the player told an anecdote involving Nick Bontis which had shocked the deputies.

The ex-leader would have referred to remarks made by the athlete during a meeting by describing them in a less than complimentary manner. “He referenced me saying, ‘What was Christine crying about?’ “, recounted the gold medalist of the Tokyo Games.

The representatives of the women’s team had just learned to their amazement, the year of their Olympic triumph in Japan, in 2021, that they were paid five times less than the players of the men’s team.

The Commons committee, which studies the issue of “safe sport in Canada”, had called Nick Bontis a little over a week ago, but he had not shown up, resisting for personal reasons.

Towards the end of his opening statement, the principal concerned justified his absence, a tremolo in his voice: harassed by a person struggling with mental health problems, who recently took his own life, he had to manage the legal case.

He also told MPs that he and his wife, three children and had been subject to “constant harassment” for 14 months. He actually works with a “panic button” under his desk at McMaster University, where he teaches.

Far from being moved, the conservative Kevin Waugh asked him why he had resigned as director of Canada Soccer last February, to which his interlocutor replied that he had been pushed out.

The two national teams had demanded changes at the head of Canada Soccer.

Among the irritants: Nick Bontis had supported the federation’s agreement with the Canadian Soccer Business (CSB). The opaque agreement was denounced by many, and defended by representatives of Canada Soccer a few days ago in the Commons committee.

In turn, Liberal Anthony Housefather was empathetic to Nick Bontis, but then dropped the gloves, hounding him and CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani over the wages they touched.

Despite the insistence of the deputy, the two men refused to reveal this information.