GM leaving Toronto FC for home in Columbus

TORONTO • General manager Tim Bezbatchenko, who helped build Toronto FC into a championship side, is leaving the MLS club.

The 37-year-old Bezbatchenko, who is from the Columbus suburb of Westerville in Ohio, is taking an executive position with Columbus Crew SC, according to sources familiar with the negotiations. It’s believed Bezbatchenko will oversee both the soccer and business side for Columbus.

Former New York Red Bulls sporting director Ali Curtis is in the running to be Bezbatchenko’s replacement.

Toronto FC had no official comment on Bezbatchenko’s future but scheduled a news conference for Thursday with team president Bill Manning making a “major announcement.” In an email to The Canadian Press, Columbus said “more details on senior leadership positions with Crew SC will be provided here in early January.”

Bezbatchenko, who was also TFC’s senior vice-president of soccer operations, joined Toronto in September 2013, inheriting a team that was 4-14-11 on the season and a woeful 49-102-66 all-time in league play.

Under Bezbatchenko, Toronto posted a 72-65-48 regular-season record and reached two MLS Cup finals, hoisting the Cup in 2017 after winning the Supporters’ Shield with a then-record 69 points. Toronto also won the Canadian Championship in 2016, ’17 and ’18 and reached the final of the CONCACAF Champions League in 2018.

A lawyer with degrees from the University of Cincinnati and the University of Richmond, he came from MLS where he was the league’s senior director of player relations and competition.