NDP is right to turn down FIFA’s World Cup ‘sucker deal’
Provincial government confirms city has been pulled from North American push for 2026 event
The 2026 FIFA World Cup of soccer will not be coming to Vancouver.
The provincial government confirmed Wednesday that the B.C. city had been dropped from the North American bid to host the world’s largest sporting event.
Canada, Mexico and the U.S. are up against Morocco to host the FIFA men’s tournament, with a decision coming in June.
Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Edmonton had been identified as potential candidates for hosting games, but Vancouver’s involvement was put in serious doubt on Tuesday when B.C. Premier John Horgan stated he wanted some guarantees on the cost for the province before signing an agreement with the United 2026 bid committee.
On Wednesday, the province learned that United 2026 has dropped Vancouver from its list of host city candidates.
“We submitted our second bid last night and this morning we received notification that (United 2026) have not accepted the bid,” Tourism Minister Lisa Beare told a scrum of reporters Wednesday at the B.C. Legislature.
A previous bid from the province was rejected last week.
Beare said the province “couldn’t agree to terms that would put British
Columbians at risk of shouldering potentially huge and unpredictable costs.’
“So far, the bid committee has rejected our requests to clarify how much British Columbians could be expected to contribute. And they have declined to negotiate with the province regarding the concerns we raised,” she said in a statement.
Beare said the bid committee’s
terms included FIFA being able to unilaterally change the stadium agreement at any point.
The province would be expected to play a role in helping with the provincially owned B.C. Place Stadium, including any modifications required to the playing surface,
parking, security and the cost of using the facility.
The economic benefit of hosting FIFA 2026 World Cup games could range from $90 million to $480 million, according to a recent report to the City of Vancouver council, which voted to endorse and support the bid proposal.
In a statement Wednesday, Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson expressed disappointment that Vancouver’s World Cup bid was not moving forward.
“Major sporting events often have challenges around costs and managing financial risk; however, the City was all-in and hopeful that the federal and provincial governments would be able to arrive at a fair deal. While I’m disappointed by this outcome, I look forward to pursuing further opportunities to bring world-class soccer and other sporting events to Vancouver in the future,” he said.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC president Bob Lenarduzzi said B.C. is missing out on a great opportunity to showcase itself on the world stage once again. “It might be different if we had a Women’s World Cup and it was a failure, if we hosted the Olympics and it was a failure. You can go back to Expo at these big events. It shone a light on our city and showed the world what we have here.”
The federal government threw its support behind the United 2026 committee Tuesday with a promise of $5-million in immediate help if the bid wins.