Montreal's MLS team is for sale, and the team moving isn't out of the question

Joey Saputo is putting CF Montreal up for sale. His family founded the team in 1992 when they were known as the Montreal Impact. But CF Montreal has vastly underperformed recently. And Joey Saputo says it's time to pass on the torch. Natalia Weichsel was at the announcement. So Natalia, what can you tell us about this possible sale? Joey Saputo the owner of CF Montreal has said that he and his family have begun the process to sell the team. Now this announcement came during a very well attended press conference late this afternoon and as Saputo spoke directly to the media he got quite emotional at moments. He reminisced on his family's relationship with the club that goes all the way back to the early 1990s. He also said that he's incredibly proud of everything Everything he and his family have accomplished in being able to bring professional professional soccer to the city of Montreal, but he insisted that the decision to let go of ownership of the team was not at all motivated by a sense of urgency or any financial reasons. Have a listen in. One thing we have to understand, it's not the past season that we had or it wasn't one particular event. It's just, again. When you've been in this the amount of time that I've been in this there comes a certain point when you say you know what I've done everything that I could possibly do and it's time to pass the torch. So what was Saputo's message to the fans? Well Deborah first he directly thanked the fans for being so loyal to the club but he also acknowledged some of the tensions that exist between team supporters and the team itself so he wasn't he wasn't afraid to speak. To some of those challenges, and challenges is the right word to use here, because CF Montreal has vastly underperformed expectations. Just this past weekend, the team capped off their worst season in club history with a 2-0 loss to the playoff-bound Vancouver Whitecaps. And during the last leg of the season, both of CF Montreal's supporters groups announced they would not be present at the club's two final home games in any capacity So when Saputo spoke directly to the fans, he says that he knows the team was not able to be as competitive as people would have liked. I know our management team spoke to the fans, we understand their frustration, we get their frustration, but you also, you know, sports teams go through that, you know, you have sports teams that have difficult years, for us it's been more than a couple, and I realize that, and I understand their passion, I understand their frustration. Deborah Saputo says he is in the process of meeting with potential buyers, hopefully a local one that would be able to keep the team here in Montreal. But Saputo says that he knows that if somebody from Quebec is not able to step up, well, that means that CF Montreal could potentially be relocating. Deborah. Thanks so much, Natalia.