Former Canada Soccer president Jim Fleming has passed away, the country’s governing body announced on Friday morning.
He was 87. Fleming died in Alberta on Thursday.
Fleming was Canada Soccer’s president from 1982-86 and then again from 1998-2002. He also served on the Concacaf executive committee from 1986-98, including an eight-year period as senior vice president from 1990-98.
He was honored by the Concacaf Hall of Fame in 2002 and also received the FIFA Order of Merit that same year. He was honored as an Alberta Soccer Life Member in 1987 and was a recipient of Canada Soccer’s Aubrey Sanford Meritorious Service Award in 1997. Before serving as Canada Soccer president, he served as president of Alberta Soccer from 1975-80.
During his first tenure as Canada Soccer president, he oversaw the hiring of men’s national team head coach Tony Waiters in 1982 after which Canada qualified for the Olympic Games in 1984 and won the Concacaf Championship in 1985 to qualify for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. He was also there for the amalgamation of the Canadian Youth Soccer Association into Canada Soccer in 1982 and the inauguration of Canada Soccer’s first Women’s National Championship that same year.
“I am very happy for the players and coach Tony Waiters in reaching Mexico,” Fleming said in 1985. “All of them overcame trials and tribulations in magnificent fashion in the qualifying rounds. In short, I am a very proud Canadian.”
During his second tenure as president, the women’s national team won the Concacaf Women’s Championship in 1998 and the men’s team won the Concacaf Gold Cup in 2000. He oversaw the hiring of CNT head coach Holger Osieck in 1998. Osieck directed Canada to the Gold Cup title and qualified Canada for the FIFA Confederations Cup Korea/Japan 2001. A year later, he oversaw the hiring of women’s national team head coach Even Pellerud, who just a few months later debuted a 16-year-old striker by the name of Christine Sinclair and helped Canada finish in fourth place at the 2003 Women’s World Cup.
Born on Feb. 28, 1935 in Edinburgh, Scotland, Fleming moved to Canada with his wife Kathleen in 1968 after which he worked at the government of Alberta for more than 30 years. He is survived by his children Sean, Anne, Paul and Angela. He was predeceased by his wife Kathleen of 60 years in 2016.
