At 12:48 on Tuesday afternoon, Hockey Night in Canada reporter Elliotte Friedman put this on twitter:

"Hearing MLSE president/CEO Tim Leiweke will be leaving the company soon." As can be imagined this caused speculation among the fans of Toronto FC, the Toronto Raptors, and the Toronto Maple Leafs as to the truth of the rumour.  What only added to the concern among the Toronto faithful was another tweet from a radio host who mentioned that Leiweke’s wife was already in southern California. His new role would be running the Los Angeles Clippers of the NBA.

Within 30 minutes Leiweke went on record to state, "It’s not true. 100 percent not true. I'm fully committed to the season at hand".  Though that will be a sigh of relief for the immediate future, this leaves open the fact that he may not be in Toronto for an extended stay. He also emailed, "Not here forever" and though focused at the current task he is "not thinking long term yet."

Toronto have come to embrace the MLSE president as someone who has planted excellent seeds in his franchises, and rejuvenated support for the clubs. In the case of Toronto FC, bringing in Jermain Defoe and Michael Bradley demonstrated his instinct to achieve results as TFC have already surpassed last year’s win total.

Likewise with the Raptors the hiring of Masai Ujiri has led to the most successful season for eight years, and the Raptors began to have excitement that they have not seen since a young Vince Carter played at the Air Canada Centre.

For MLSE, he has been a great challenge as he is one of the first executives to truly take initiative in getting the best product out, regardless of egos and ranks within the company.

How quickly Leiweke’s plans fully bloom could determine how long he remains in Toronto. When he does exit the best the long suffering Toronto fans can hope for is that he leaves the city a winner and that can carry over this formula to his successors.

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About the author
Michael Axmith
I write soccer with a combination of loving passion for the beautiful game, while being objective and offering good humour in my analysis.my home is Toronto, Canada and I am honoured to be included in this great group.