Ottawa: Hockey Canada’s chief executive officer Scott Smith has decided to step down and the decision will come into effect immediately. Hockey Canada’s Board of Directors has also agreed to step down from their posts.

Announcing the change in the leadership team, Hockey Canada said the interim management committee will take over the responsibility of running the organization until a new CEO is appointed by the next board of directors.

Smith has been serving as CEO of the organisation since July 1. The election to the board of directors was earlier scheduled to be held but it was delayed and is now scheduled for December 17.

In May this year, TSN had reported that a woman was allegedly sexually assaulted in London, Ontario by several members of the Canadian World Junior Hockey Team in 2018 and the case has been settled by Hockey Canada with the woman.

In June, the federal government blocked funding to Hockey Canada and ordered a financial audit. That month, federal politicians began re-examining Hockey Canada’s methods of dealing with alleged sexual assaults and payments to deal with them.

It revealed that the National Equity Fund, which is supplemented with the money of minor hockey registration, is being used by the organisation to deal with cases like alleged sexual assaults.

Several days later, in 2003, another sexual assault involving members of the Canadian World Junior Hockey Team emerged. However, police and NHL investigators are investigating the case and these allegations have not yet been proved in court.

In a meeting, Hockey Canada revealed that since 1989, it does not include the London case, the organization has paid $7·6 million to settle nine cases of sexual assault and abuse. The matter has become so complicated that even the well-known sponsors of Hockey Canada have pulled their hands back.

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