{"id":130550,"date":"2026-07-15T16:07:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T16:07:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/130550\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T16:07:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T16:07:15","slug":"new-olympic-stadium-director-a-boost-for-cf-montreals-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/130550\/","title":{"rendered":"New Olympic Stadium director a boost for CF Montreal’s future?"},"content":{"rendered":"

As CF Montreal look to secure their long-term future at the city\u2019s iconic Olympic Stadium, they now have someone with soccer experience on the inside.<\/p>\n

Former Montreal Roses president Annie Larouche has been named director of the Olympic Stadium, with one of her main tasks finding events and tenants for the Big O. With MLS switching to a winter schedule next year, CF Montreal are in discussions to move into the stadium \u2014 at least for the winter months \u2014 which is just a few hundred metres away from Stade Saputo.<\/p>\n

Related Reading: Don Garber: Olympic Stadium can be \u2018one of the greats in the world\u2019 with renos, CF Montreal move<\/a><\/p>\n

Larouche was president of the city\u2019s Northern Super League side from August 2024 until earlier this month, overseeing the club\u2019s growth from an idea, through their successful inaugural NSL season and then into season two. The Roses play out of Stade Bor\u00e9ale in Laval, but are expected to smash their attendance record when they play at Stade Saputo for the first time on August 29, with Larouche having an established relationship with CF Montreal president Gabriel Gervais. <\/p>\n

Larouche has worked in Montreal sports for a long time, spending 25 years with the Montreal Alouettes from 1996 to 2021 as the director of the Alouettes Foundation, leading the Alumni Association and working in community relations and with the cheerleading team.<\/p>\n

She was also president of the Canadian Elite Basketball League\u2019s Montreal Alliance between her stints with the Alouettes and Roses.<\/p>\n

\"\"Courtesy: Montreal Roses<\/p>\n

\u201cWith a remarkable career in the world of sports and major events, Annie has distinguished herself by her ability to build high-performance organizations, lead large-scale operations and carry out structuring projects,\u201d a statement from Montreal Olympic Park read on LinkedIn<\/a>. \u201cShe has left her mark on recognized organizations such as the Montreal Alouettes, the Montreal Alliance and the Montreal Roses. Her leadership, strategic vision and ability to rally teams and partners make her a key asset for the future of the Olympic Stadium. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt a time when the Olympic Park is undergoing a major transformation, Annie\u2019s mission will be to lead the evolution of the Olympic Stadium to ensure its performance, viability and influence.\u201d<\/p>\n

That major transformation comes in the form of an $870 million renovation to the stadium\u2019s long-deteriorating roof. CF Montreal have raised the concern that they need the inside of the aging stadium to be upgraded as well for it to be a viable MLS option, with league commissioner Don Garber saying that the stadium has the potential to be one of the best in the world with the right renovations. Talks are ongoing about the interior.<\/p>\n

It was 50 years ago this month that the Olympic Stadium hosted the 1976 Summer Olympics, and they need a primary tenant and the venue returning to being a prominent global concert and event venue to ensure its long-term success as well. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do John Paul II, Michael Jackson and the Montreal Alouettes have in common? They all gave me unforgettable moments at Olympic Stadium,\u201d Larouche posted herself on LinkedIn<\/a>. \u201cToday, it is with great pride that I join the Olympic Park as Director of the Olympic Stadium. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have the privilege of joining a passionate and experienced team. Together, we will do everything we can to ensure that the Olympic Stadium continues to host events that bring people together, inspire and create lasting memories. Thank you to the entire Olympic Park team for your trust and warm welcome. I can\u2019t wait to contribute to the next page in the history of this iconic place!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Courtesy: Montreal Olympic Park\ufeff<\/p>\n

The former home of the Montreal Expos and Montreal Alouettes has hosted select CF Montreal games in the past. If the club can\u2019t return to the stadium for at least winter matches, Gervais has warned that the club might not be viable in the city for sporting and financial reasons. <\/p>\n

Jesse Marsch, Canada\u2019s men\u2019s national team boss and the first-ever CF Montreal manager in their MLS era, lobbied for a deal to be worked out when Canada played a pre-World Cup friendly in the city against Republic of Ireland. The city missed out on having the stadium ready to potentially host World Cup matches this summer, but if upgraded it could certainly become a regular home for the national teams.<\/p>\n

An agreement seems to be in the best interest of all parties, but now the important part is getting it over the line. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As CF Montreal look to secure their long-term future at the city\u2019s iconic Olympic Stadium, they now have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130551,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[17,12526,1104,27385,318,359,50,17368,116,17369,9585,30190,3543],"class_list":["post-130550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-canada","tag-canmnt","tag-cf-montreal","tag-cfmtl","tag-major-league-soccer","tag-mls","tag-montreal","tag-montreal-roses","tag-news","tag-northern-super-league","tag-nsl","tag-olympic-stadium","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}