Whitecaps CEO has backing to fire fellow execs if MLS investigation finds wrongdoing

The head of the Vancouver Whitecaps insists he has approval to remove any member of the organization’s leadership team, depending on how an investigation into the club’s handling of abuse allegations plays out.

This comes as Major League Soccer begins an investigation into the club’s handling of the removal of a coach in 2011.

Hubert Busby Jr.’s contract wasn’t renewed after allegations of sexual misconduct, but that was never disclosed publicly at the time.

Depending on what the investigation initiated by Major League Soccer unveils, Whitecaps Chief Executive Axel Schuster told CityNews he’s willing and able to dismiss anyone at any level of the club, including members of the executive team.

“This was a precondition to put my face up and to speak with [the media and public] as the voice of the club,” Schuster answered when asked if he has the authority to remove any members of the club’s leadership team in the event the investigation determines the situation was handled inappropriately. “I wanted to have the backup [from ownership] that I can do it the way I think it’s right, and that I can take decisions at the end that I think they are right.”

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“I wanted to have this additional backup for whatever comes up, and whatever I think is right at the end, after I have all of the information,” Schuster said while outlining the extent of his ability to release anyone within the organization.

Members of the Whitecaps executive team who were with the club in 2011 have been placed on leave during the investigation.

Schuster says MLS has asked him not to name the executives while the investigation takes place.

However, Bob Lenarduzzi, Dan Lenarduzzi, Rachel Lewis and and Greg Anderson are listed on the Whitecaps website as executives who were with the club at that time.

Last week, MLS announced that it was opening an investigation into the club after former Whitecaps women’s player Malloree Enoch came forward with allegations that Busby tried to force her into sex during the recruitment process a decade ago.

Busby has denied the allegations against him in an interview with the Guardian newspaper in the U.K.

The Whitecaps have dealt with a number of scandals in recent years.

Another former women’s coach who left the club in 2011, Bob Birarda, faces multiple criminal sex charges, and his case is still working its way through the courts.