Less than two years after being hired, the Edmonton Elks and president and CEO Victor Cui have mutually parted ways effective immediately, the football team announced Tuesday.
The team named Cui as its new president and CEO on January 24, 2022.
“We thank Victor for his work during his time with the club,” said Tom Richards, chair of the EE Football Club board of directors.
“This was a difficult decision for everyone involved, but as a board we believe it’s in the best interests of all parties to move in a new direction.”
Cui said the decision was difficult but was made so he can focus on his family.
“Despite the team’s current record, I have full confidence that the positives we are starting to see on the field will lead to success moving forward,” said Cui.
The news comes as the football team is in the midst of a 22-game home losing streak — the longest in North American professional sports history.
The Elks (0-9) have not won at home since Oct. 12, 2019 and have also lost 13 straight games overall, tying a franchise futility record set in 1963-64.
Brenden Escott, host of 630 CHED’s Elks show Countdown to Kickoff, said the club is looking for solutions in any area it can find them.
“The next loss theoretically could put them in standing as the worst run in history,” said Escott.
In a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Richards said Cui had tried a lot of strategies to turn the struggling team around.
“Some of the things that he did worked, some decisions we made as a board didn’t work… good things we’ll keep, other things we’ll reconsider,” said Richards.
Escott said fans liked and respected Cui.
“(Cui) came in and he’s a little bombastic and not afraid to hang his opinion out online, and I think people really respected that,” he said.
“I wonder what else has maybe matriculated behind the scenes to accelerate a process because public opinion for the most part was really positive and people felt like this was an opportunity to grow from a difficult spot.”
An Edmonton native and a graduate of the University of Alberta, Cui came to the team after being the CEO of International ONE Championship, a mixed martial arts program based in Singapore.
He founded and is the CEO of ONE Elite Agency as well. Over the last 25 years, he was also involved with the Commonwealth Games, Golf Canada and ESPN Star Sports.
The team said the search for a new president and CEO will begin in the coming weeks, with the existing business operations senior leadership team leading the day-to-day in the interim.
An interim replacement is expected in two to three weeks and a permanent replacement is expected by the end of the year, Richards said.
— With files from Caley Gibson, Global News and The Canadian Press