Article content continued

Hunt said there is a list of four or five coaching candidates and said the team, after getting its infrastructure in place, hopes to move swiftly to find the right person for the job.

“It’s not like we can’t make a move before a coach or GM is hired,” Hunt said. “(Atletico Madrid) has resources. No matter what scheme a coach is going to run, you want good players. We are looking for good players.”

There will be a public unveiling event for the team Feb. 12 at TD Place.

“We are thrilled to welcome Ottawa as the Canadian Premier League’s eighth club and Club Atlético de Madrid as our newest owners of the Ottawa club,” commissioner David Clanachan said in a statement. “We are very excited to launch the club with one of the world’s most iconic and successful soccer brands, and look forward to them taking to the pitch for the 2020 CPL season.”

“We are delighted to be part of such an exciting project in an amazing country,” Club Atletico de Madrid CEO Miguel Ángel Gil Marín said. “We would like to bring our expertise to a very strong and structured league, and will work together with the CPL and the rest of the clubs to contribute to the growth of Canadian soccer.”

While with OSEG, which owns the Redblacks (CFL) and 67’s (junior hockey), Hunt stepped away from the operations of Fury FC, which played in the NASL, then the USL, beginning in 2014 before suspending operations in November.

Fury FC ran out of patience with soccer’s governing bodies. OSEG pulled the plug on the team when it couldn’t get sanctioning to participate in the United Soccer League (USL) Championship this year. Unlike a year ago, when they were ready to take the battle to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Fury FC walked away with the OSEG collective wanting out.