City to mull hosting World Cup games

Hoping to deliver a kick to cash registers and set them ringing, the City of Edmonton is scheduled to discuss participating in a bid to be host city of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The community and public services committee hopes city council will approve a bid to host 2026 FIFA matches in Edmonton, bringing in an estimated US$170 million in economic impact, according to a report to be discussed at the committee meeting Jan. 17.

The committee will also discuss bid timelines, requirements by the city, benefits and economic impacts for Edmonton that come from playing host.

To be part of the bid process, the city has to sign a FIFA host city agreement, stadium agreement and the training site agreement by Jan. 24, all of which are legally binding on the city, the report said.

It will cost the city between $35 million and $55 million to be a host, it said. This does not include any capital requirements that may also be needed, it added. An agreement outlining obligations of the Edmonton airport authority is also required as part of the bid.

“Host city costs depend on the number of Canadian host cities selected,” the report said. At this time, neither the federal nor provincial governments are involved in the bid process.

The city was invited by Canada Soccer last July 12 to “an expression of interest to be a host city for the 2026 FIFA World Cup,” the report said. Other cities vying to be hosts are Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Host cities will be announced in 2021.

The United Bid Committee of the U.S., Mexico and Canada, the muscle behind the push to hold FIFA in North America, must submit its bid to FIFA by March 16.