UNFAIR RED-CARD ON CHARMAINE HOOPER

Nepean's own Charmaine Hooper deserves a better end to her international soccer career than this: As the Toronto Star reported today, the 20-year veteran of Canada's women's soccer team lost her arbitration case vs. coach Evan Pellerud over a suspension from last summer that's still standing.

So Hooper, who's spent more than half of her lifetime with the national team, might not got to play in this September's World Cup or the 2008 Olympics.

As Ottawa Fury followers know, it got pretty messy last summer. There was a push to get Canada's top players to live and train in Vancouver, where they could play their club soccer for the Whitecaps, whose owner, Bob Kerfoot, is a major bankroller of the women's national team program. Hooper, who already had a team to play on in New Jersey, declined. Then Pellerud scheduled a friendly for the same day as the W-League semi-final between the Fury and Hooper's team, sparking accusations that there was an effort to weaken the Fury since Vancouver would have preferred to play New Jersey.

Pellerud eventually let the Fury players go, but didn't give a release to Hooper, who played for New Jersey anyway and evidently had to suffer the consequences. Without taking sides, it's a shame if Hooper doesn't play for Canada again. In a just world the 38-year-old gets to play out her international career out on her own merits.

Related:
Arbitrator rules against Hooper (Morgan Campbell, Toronto Star)