The reigning Olympic champions are preparing to compete at next month’s tournament in Australia and New Zealand, but Canada Soccer is under a cloud of uncertainty.

De Vos, who previously captained the men's national side, was appointed as the body's general secretary on an interim basis in April following the departure of Earl Cochrane.

Canada Soccer has been under scrutiny amid concerns over a lack of equality with the women’s team locked in a pay dispute.

The country’s Sports Minister Pascale St-Onge ordered last month a financial audit and review of Canada Soccer as a condition for future Government funding, saying that there needed to be "greater transparency" over the allocation of funds.

De Vos laid bare the problems facing Canada Soccer in an interview with Canadian broadcaster TSN, admitting bankruptcy may even be considered, although insisted this would be the last resort.

"We are in a real struggle," said de Vos.

"It’s not imminent but we need to explore what bankruptcy entails and how it might affect our organisation.

"We don’t have enough venue coming in for the problems that need to be run, and that includes everything from grassroots coach education and referee development to youth national teams and our senior men’s and women’s team.

"…[Bankruptcy] has been discussed, but not in the sense of this is a strategy or this is something that we’re looking at.

"It’s been discussed more from my own perspective to learn about it.

"It is absolutely the last option that I want to consider or even think about.

"But I would be remiss if I didn’t do my due diligence on this."

Canada's women won bronze at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympics before taking gold in Tokyo when they beat Sweden 3-2 in a penalty shoot-out after a 1-1 draw.

Earlier this year, the team threatened strike action over inadequate funding for the women’s team and youth game.

"I still think of myself as a player, and I want the national teams to know that I’m on their side," said de Vos, who won 49 caps for his country between 1997 and 2004.

"I need for them to understand we only have so much money and there’s only so much we can give them.

"I don’t want to have to take money from programming resources to provide more compensation.

"I know the players understand that, but they also want what they feel they deserve."

While Canada has achieved on the Olympic stage, they have failed to deliver at the World Cup, with their best run coming in 2003 when they lost the third-place playoff to the United States.

Canada have been placed in Group B along with co-hosts Australia, Republic of Ireland and Nigeria at the tournament that is due to start on July 20.