News   Mar 28, 2024
 443     0 
News   Mar 28, 2024
 382     1 
News   Mar 28, 2024
 732     0 

Canadian Soccer Association to bid for 2026 World Cup

Solid Snake

Active Member
Member Bio
Joined
Dec 15, 2010
Messages
866
Reaction score
1
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/opi...er-association-to-bid-for-2026-world-cup.html

It has been less than a 100 days since Victor Montagliani was elected president of the Canadian Soccer Association, on a campaign of culture change and promising to take Canadian soccer to the next level, and already he has the CSA aiming high.

On the phone from British Columbia, Montagliani confirmed to CBC Sports that the CSA has had discussions with FIFA about hosting a Men's World Cup. And while the next bidding process will not start for a couple of years still, Montagliani and the CSA are clearly already laying the groundwork to bring the world's largest sporting event to Canada.

"It's not only a possibility; it's something we intend to do," Montagliani said. "We have verbally told FIFA that when the bid process begins for the next available World Cup, which would be the 2026 World Cup, that the CSA will be one of the countries putting in a formal proposal.

"The FIFA president has acknowledged to us and others that it needs to come back into this hemisphere, to our region CONCACAF. So that's what we will work towards."

That might seem like a long way off, but in the world of hosting major sporting events - some of which can take over a decade to plan - starting to prepare now is the prudent approach.

"Obviously we need to get a lot of ducks in a row, starting with our friends at 24 Sussex Street," Montagliani said. "The Men's World Cup is the biggest event in the world, much bigger than the summer Olympics, and I think we can show them that. And, actually, I think our government already knows that. But to pull off an event of this magnitude, we need commitment from all levels."

In 2007, the CSA got commitment from all three levels of government across Canada - municipalities, provinces and the national government all gave funding to the CSA to host the FIFA U-20 World Cup. By FIFA and local standards it was a massive success, with 1.2 million tickets sold at venues across Canada. It remains the most attended FIFA U-20 tournament to date.

In 2015, the CSA will once again get the opportunity to showcase the passion for the game that exists in this country when it hosts the Women's World Cup. The timing of which couldn't be more perfect. If the U-20 success is duplicated there, Montagliani said it will make a strong case for hosting the Men's game.

"If you look at where we want to get to, not only on the international stage, but where the game stands in our country, in our culture, that's our number one priority. We will have shown that we are capable of not only attracting big attendances but running a safe and secure event at the highest levels of FIFA's tournaments," Montagliani said.

In the meantime, that's where Montagliani and the CSA find themselves - trying to reinforce a growing demand for a national team product that has struggled over the years.

"There is absolutely no reason that we shouldn't be selling out World Cup qualifiers for our national team," he said. "And I don't buy that it's the CSA's fault for not marketing it correctly. If you are a fan of the game in Canada you should be out supporting your country when they play. Full stop. We've seen good growth in Toronto but it can still be better.

"But it's about changing the culture at all levels - from the grassroots on up to the media - ensuring that consumers have a connection to it. And that the media understand the scope and depth of our game too. So, that they can properly convey the issues to their readers and listeners and make educated consumers out of the sporting populace here in Canada."
 
Terrible news. The only way to win a FIFA World Cup is to buy the votes. Can the CSA really afford to be bidding against some oil-rich sultanate?

Under current FIFA rules - Europe and Asia cannot bid for 2026 as they will have hosted in 2018 and 2022 respectively. CONMEBOL will be hosting in 2014.

So that leaves Africa and CONCACAF vying for 2026 - and South Africa just held it in 2010.
 
Under current FIFA rules - Europe and Asia cannot bid for 2026 as they will have hosted in 2018 and 2022 respectively. CONMEBOL will be hosting in 2014.

So that leaves Africa and CONCACAF vying for 2026 - and South Africa just held it in 2010.

Exactly!

Mexico already held it in 1986
USA in 1994
Central America's ability to hold those games are doubtful

The fact that the last U20 World cup in Canada was the most successful U20 FIFA tournament of all time makes Canada's bid that much stronger. We never held it in the past.

With what happened at the Olympics for the Women's team Canada I can predict that the 2015 Women's world cup will be just as successful.

I'd be surprise if they gave it to the US or Mexico again. We have the economy and capacity to make them successful.
 
Last edited:
While I'd like to see it happen in Canada - there just isn't the pool of 10-12 stadiums that will have the 45,000 capacity needed to host the event
 
Under current FIFA rules - Europe and Asia cannot bid for 2026 as they will have hosted in 2018 and 2022 respectively.
They haven't established the rules for 2026 yet. The rewrote the bid rule book for 2018 and 2022 bids. There's no rush here ... they may not be awarding 2026 until 2019, based on how they awarded 2018 and 2014. 2022 was the exception ...
 
While I'd like to see it happen in Canada - there just isn't the pool of 10-12 stadiums that will have the 45,000 capacity needed to host the event

1-Olympic Stadium
Montreal
66,308

2-Commonwealth Stadium
Edmonton
60,081

3-BC Place
Vancouver
54,320

4-Rogers Centre
Toronto
53,506

5-McMahon Stadium
Calgary
35,560 --> 46,020 with temporary seating

6-Proposed new Stadium
Regina
40,000

7-Investors Group Field
Winnipeg
33,422--> 40,000 with temporary seating

8-Proposed new Stadium
Ottawa
Unknown

9-BMO Field
Toronto
Upgradable

10-Saputo Stadium
Montreal
Upgradable

11 and 12 New Stadium?
 
Ottawa will be upgradable to 40,000 as will the new Ivor Wynne.

I can't see BMO and Saputo being upgraded that much. East coast stadium maybe - Halifax, Moncton??

And there needs to be a stadium with a capacity of at least 80,000 to host the final (Toronto Olympic Stadium??)

The Americans are way ahead of Canada with regards to stadia
 
Ottawa will be upgradable to 40,000 as will the new Ivor Wynne.

I can't see BMO and Saputo being upgraded that much. East coast stadium maybe - Halifax, Moncton??

And there needs to be a stadium with a capacity of at least 80,000 to host the final (Toronto Olympic Stadium??)

The Americans are way ahead of Canada with regards to stadia

The point is they already had them which plays heavily against them. We had the most successful U20 world cup in FIFA history. With our economy and possibility at winning the 2024 Summer games, adding 2 more stadium is far from being unrealistic.

The way BMO and Saputo stadium are built, adding new seats and section is really easy to do.
 
I confess when I read the title I thought "No way" because when has Canada's men's team ever even been in a World Cup? After reading some of the points made here, Canada appears to be a shoe-in. With the path of improvement being followed and with a competitive MLS team, Canada appears headed to putting together a pretty decent national team.

BMO Field was always a beginner stadium. I can imagine a serious permanent TorontoFC stadium being built in the next decade whether or not Canada hosts the World Cup. Ideally, I'd like to see a stadium in each Province and Territory but I don't think Nunavut will have use for a 50,000 seat stadium after the Cup. The Rogers Centre + The New BMO Field in Toronto, Olympic Stadium plus a new MLS Stadium in Montreal (another soccer crazy city) in addition to the others in Canada's major cities would be a realistic lineup.
 
Canada has only qualified once -- in 1986. And the results were not pretty.

As for this 2026 idea, IMO Canada has virtually no shot to successfully win a stand-alone bid. On the other hand partnering up with the U.S. is very winnable, though it's anyone's guess whether FIFA would allow that and if the Americans would be interested.
 
Let's get through the Women's World Cup and Pan Ams first.

Also BMO Field is extraordinarily easy to expand in order to seat 40,000+.

3488789627_7f9406208a.jpg


Not only does it have 2/4 sections which can be expanded, it has the swaths of space in the surface parking lots to temporarily expand it!
 
I confess when I read the title I thought "No way" because when has Canada's men's team ever even been in a World Cup? After reading some of the points made here, Canada appears to be a shoe-in. With the path of improvement being followed and with a competitive MLS team, Canada appears headed to putting together a pretty decent national team.

BMO Field was always a beginner stadium. I can imagine a serious permanent TorontoFC stadium being built in the next decade whether or not Canada hosts the World Cup. Ideally, I'd like to see a stadium in each Province and Territory but I don't think Nunavut will have use for a 50,000 seat stadium after the Cup. The Rogers Centre + The New BMO Field in Toronto, Olympic Stadium plus a new MLS Stadium in Montreal (another soccer crazy city) in addition to the others in Canada's major cities would be a realistic lineup.

Ignoring, of course, that sheer number of stadiums in the host country is, by no means, the only criteria that FIFA has. Others workign against us are 1) limits on number of stadiums in any individual city used (ie. FIFA likes/requires it to be 1 city 1 stadium....so the concept of us having two cities - Montreal and Toronto - that would each use two stadiums is a hurdle) and 2) FIFA requires that, for the duration of the tournament, the keys to the stadia be turned over to them for their exclusive use....so we have the issue of telling 3 MLS teams and 9 (by then) CFL teams to "stop playing or find somewhere else to play".

Add in that by 2026, some of the key stadiums listed above will be very old and will need substantial updating!.....Olympic Stadium will by 50! Commonwealth 48.....Roger's Centre (which, I guess would be renamed back to SkyDome for the tournament) will be 37.

Once we get over those issues we will need to deal with the cost....which is substantial. Will our general public (and by extension our government) be willing to spend the amount of money on stadia that is needed?

Germany, South Africa and Brazil all were dealing with a combination of new and refurbished stadiums (as Canada would be).....it is not just size of stadiums that FIFA looks at but quality.

4-4-2 magazine had a story about the cost of Brazil's stadiums running out of control ( http://fourfourtwo.com/news/worldcup/98790/default.aspx ) in the story they compared it to the cost of South Africa and Germany.

The current official estimate of 6.7 billion reais ($3.68 billion) is well above the 1.4 billion euros ($1.87 billion) Germany spent on its 12 stadiums for the 2006 World Cup and more than twice the $1.48 billion South Africa spent on 10 arenas just two years ago.

So, given our national attitude to financing sports facilities....ask yourself if, in the Canada we know, there will be financing of between $1.5B and $3.7B just for stadiums (forgetting other infrastructure/organizing costs).
 

Back
Top