By Canadian Press

CF Montreal terminates coach’s contract after political backlash over comments

Jan 10, 2023 | 9:02 AM

MONTREAL — CF Montreal has terminated the contract of its reserve squad coach after a political backlash over his previous comments about Quebec’s 2012 election night shooting.

The Major League Soccer club today announced the end of its deal with Sandro Grande less than a day after announcing the hire, with team president and CEO Gabriel Gervais calling the hiring a mistake.

Grande was under fire over comments he made in the wake of the 2012 Quebec election night shooting outside a Parti Québécois gathering, notably writing on Twitter that the only mistake the shooter made was missing his target.

Grande issued an apology in a statement released by the club on Monday, but the political reaction was almost immediate from politicians of all stripes.

PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon called the hiring unacceptable in a series of tweets Monday and a spokesman for Quebec Premier François Legault said today that Grande’s appointment showed a lack of respect given his past unacceptable and hurtful remarks.

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Gervais, who is expected to meet reporters later today, apologized in a statement and admitted the club had underestimated the impact of the comments and actions from several years ago.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 10, 2023.

The Canadian Press

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said the comment about the election night shooting was made on Grande’s Facebook account.