Gabriel Walid Bitar (; born August 23, 1998) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Canadian club

Vancouver FC Vancouver Football Club, commonly known as Vancouver FC, is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club in Langley, British Columbia (district municipality), Langley, British Columbia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier Le ...

. Born in Canada, he plays for the Lebanon national team.

Early life

Bitar began playing soccer with the Ottawa Internationals at age four. He later joined the Ottawa Fury Academy.

University career

In 2017, Bitar began attending

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning World ...

playing for the men's soccer team. In his first year, he was the top scorer in the country with 16 goals, as he won the

OUA Oua is an islet on the north-east of Nukufetau atoll, Tuvalu, next to Lafanga atoll. References

Islands of Tuvalu Pacific islands claimed under the Guano Islands Act Nukufetau {{tuvalu-geo-stub ...

East Division Rookie of the Year, OUA East Division MVP, and

U Sports U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the Ca ...

Rookie of the Year awards and was named a First Team All-Canadian and First-Team OUA East All-Star, helping the Ravens to an OUA silver medal, scoring an additional four goals during the national tournament. In 2018, he finished third in the OUA in goals with 13 and added another 5 in the national tournament, while being named a Second Team All-Canadian and First Team OUA All-Star, as the Ravens won the bronze medal at the national championship. In 2019, Bitar was a First Team OUA All-Star and Second Team All-Canadian. After the 2020 season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Bitar returned for 2021, helping the Ravens win a silver medal at the national championships, while being named a Tournament All-Star as well as an OUA East All-Star during the season.

Club career

Early career

Bitar was part of the

Ottawa Fury FC Academy Ottawa Fury FC Academy was the youth academy and development system of Canadian soccer club Ottawa Fury FC. In 2015 and 2016, they played in the Première Ligue de soccer du Québec. History The Fury Academy was launched in 2006, under the um ...

and played for their

Première ligue de soccer du Québec The Première ligue de soccer du Québec (PLSQ) is a semi-professional soccer league created in 2012. The Quebec Soccer Federation operates both men's and women's divisions at the pro-am tier of the Canadian soccer league system. The league is pa ...

team in 2015 and 2016. In 2017, Bitar played for

League1 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1O) is a semi-professional men's soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league began play in 2014 and is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association as a pro-am league in the Canadian so ...

side

Ottawa South United Ottawa South United is a Canadian semi-professional soccer team based in Manotick, Ontario, a community in the rural south part of Ottawa that plays in the Première Ligue de soccer du Québec. The club previously competed in League1 Ontario. ...

, scoring six goals in thirteen league appearances, and playing once in the L1O Cup.

Cavalry FC

Bitar was the first overall draft pick in the inaugural

CPL–U Sports Draft The CPL–U Sports Draft (french: Repêchage de la PLC–U Sports) is an annual event in which Canadian Premier League clubs select players from U Sports, Canada's governing body for university sports. The draft allows student-athletes to play pro ...

, where he was picked by

Cavalry FC Cavalry Football Club, is a Canadian professional soccer club based in the Calgary metropolitan region of Alberta. The club competes at the top of the Canadian soccer league system in the Canadian Premier League, and plays their home matches at ...

of the

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; french: Première ligue canadienne, links=no) is a professional men's Association football, soccer league in Canada. At the top of the Canadian soccer league system, it is the country's primary nationa ...

on November 12, 2018. He signed with the club on April 24, 2019. He made his debut for Cavalry against

Pacific FC Pacific Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Greater Victoria, British Columbia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League, playing home matches at Starlight Stadium located in Langford. History On May 5, 201 ...

in a

Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship (french: Championnat canadien) is an annual soccer tournament contested by premier Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and Canada's berth in the CONCACAF Champions League. It is contest ...

match on May 16. In August 2019, Cavalry announced that Bitar would return to

for the 2019 USports season. He was picked again by Cavalry in the

2019 CPL–U Sports Draft The 2019 CPL–U Sports Draft was the second annual CPL–U Sports Draft. It was held on November 11, 2019 in Montreal, Quebec. Seven Canadian Premier League (CPL) teams selected 14 eligible U Sports athletes in total. Format Each CPL team will ...

, this time sixth overall, but he did not join them for the 2020 season.

Ottawa South United

In 2020, he returned to Ottawa South United, who moved from League1 Ontario to the Première Ligue de soccer du Québec, where he previously played when he was a member of the Ottawa Fury Academy.

Ansar

On July 4, 2021, Bitar moved to Ansar in the

Lebanese Premier League The Lebanese First Division ( ar, الدوري اللبناني الدرجة الأولى), commonly known as the Lebanese Premier League (), is the top division of the Lebanese football league system. There are 12 teams competing in the league, ...

on trial for the

2021 Lebanese Elite Cup The 2021 Lebanese Elite Cup was the 23rd edition of the Lebanese Elite Cup. The competition included the six best teams from the 2020–21 Lebanese Premier League season. The first matchday was played on 12 July, one day before the start of the ...

. He made his debut on July 12, scoring a

brace Brace(s) or bracing may refer to: Medical * Orthopaedic brace, a device used to restrict or assist body movement ** Back brace, a device limiting motion of the spine *** Milwaukee brace, a kind of back brace used in the treatment of spinal cur ...

against Akhaa Ahli Aley in the group stage. Bitar scored his third goal against Ahed on July 16. Despite scoring three goals in two games, Bitar decided not to sign a contract with Ansar, due to the economic situation in Lebanon.

FC Edmonton

On March 28, 2022, Bitar returned to the Canadian Premier League, signing with

FC Edmonton FC Edmonton was a Canadian professional soccer club based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club was founded in 2010 and competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 2011 to 2017. The club went on hiatus when NASL ceased competitive operat ...

. With Edmonton, he switched positions from his typical forward role to being deployed primarily as a midfielder. He scored his first goal on June 27, in a 3–1 defeat to former club Cavalry FC.

Vancouver FC

In January 2023, Bitar signed with expansion side

. He scored his first goal for the club on July 7, in a 2–1 victory over the

HFX Wanderers HFX Wanderers Football Club, commonly known as HFX Wanderers, and spoken as Halifax Wanderers, is a Canadian professional soccer club in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League at the top of the Canadian soccer le ...

. On August 19, Bitar scored a brace to help Vancouver win 3–2 against

International career

Bitar is eligible to represent Canada, through birth, and Lebanon through

descent Descent may refer to: As a noun Genealogy and inheritance * Common descent, concept in evolutionary biology * Kinship, one of the major concepts of cultural anthropology **Pedigree chart or family tree **Ancestry **Lineal descendant **Heritage (d ...

, as both his parents are from the capital

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

Canada

In September 2015, Bitar participated in an identification camp for the Canada national under-20 team.

Lebanon

In December 2022, Bitar accepted a call-up to the Lebanon national team for a

friendly game Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

against the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

(UAE). He made his debut on December 30 as a substitute in the match, in an eventual 1–0 defeat. In December 2023, Bitar was included in the Lebanese squad for the

2023 AFC Asian Cup The 2023 AFC Asian Cup will be the 18th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It will involve 24 national teams after expansion in 201 ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Individual *

Lebanese Elite Cup The Lebanese Elite Cup () is a Lebanese football annual cup competition contested by the top six teams of the previous Lebanese Premier League season. Founded in 1996 as the Super League Cup, the first edition was contested by the top five finish ...

top goalscorer:

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bitar, Gabriel 1998 births Living people Soccer players from Ottawa Canadian men's soccer players Lebanese men's footballers Canadian people of Lebanese descent Sportspeople of Lebanese descent Men's association football forwards Men's association football midfielders Ottawa Fury FC players Carleton Ravens men's soccer players Ottawa South United players Cavalry FC draft picks Cavalry FC players Al Ansar FC players FC Edmonton players Ligue1 Québec players League1 Ontario players Canadian Premier League players Canadian Premier League first-overall draft picks Lebanon men's international footballers International sportspeople born abroad 2023 AFC Asian Cup players