B.C. ahead of the curve on FIFA’s greed
Soccer’s powers don’t need tribute, even if they do think they’re conquering royalty
During the course of a 45-minute conference call Monday, the united bid committee for the 2026 World Cup took every opportunity to impress upon its audience just how united they are in their pursuit of FIFA’s crown jewel.
It was an interesting bit of timing because last week the B.C. government rescinded its support of the bid, as did the Alberta government and the cities of Chicago and Minneapolis. The bid committee, it seems, is united in its aim to bringing the World Cup to Canada, Mexico and the U.S., but, beyond its well-appointed walls, opinions on this matter aren’t as, well, unified.
“This is not geopolitics,” said U.S. Soccer Federation president Carlos Cordeiro, one of the bid committee’s three co-chairs. “It’s football. We’re focused on the merits of our bid.”
Right, because Lord knows politics never enters the equation when it comes to FIFA or a Cup bid.
With the dust from last week’s rumpus still clouding the issue, Vancouverite and Canadian Soccer Association president Steven Reed, his Mexican counterpart Decio de Maria, and Cordeiro tried to clarify their organization’s position Monday. But if you were waiting for a detailed accounting of their business, if you thought the events of last week had caused some deep soulsearching in the CONCACAF bid, then — surprise! — you’re still waiting.
In the end, Cordeiro, Reed and de Maria succeeded only in serving up a series of platitudes that extolled the greatness of their mission. On the one hand, this is to be expected. They’re after the biggest prize in world sports and if that means genuflecting in front of the FIFA altar — Reed: “Our bid is an example of the unity football brings to the world” — that’s just the price of doing business.
But not everyone views this process through the same lens as the bid committee. Four different governments, in fact, have weighed FIFA’s demands in the bid and seen not a once-in-alifetime windfall, but a venture in which FIFA reaps a disproportionate share of the rewards while assuming none of the risk.
As such, they’ve withdrawn their support, to which we can only add: It’s about time.
Last week, your agent authored a column that stated, among other things, Vancouver’s withdrawal from 2026 represented a lost opportunity for the city and province. While acknowledging the odious nature of FIFA and the danger of entering into any partnership with them, the larger point was Vancouver has derived many great things as a host city for world sports. Couple that with our place as the home of soccer in Canada and it felt like the benefits outweighed the potential costs in this venture.
Now, I don’t want a complete do-over on that column. But, owing to subsequent events, I’d like to walk it back a couple of steps. When the piece was first written, details were still emerging about FIFA’s demands. Now, with some solid reporting by Bob Mackin and our own Mike Smyth, a more complete picture has emerged that has caused some second thoughts.
Besides, as noted soccer writer Ralph Waldo Emerson once observed: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.”
The World Cup remains a massive global event and there is real value in bringing it to your town. But, to get three games, the province had to cave to FIFA and I’m not sure that was worth the price. Individually, the items weren’t deal-breakers — openended cost on security, two grass fields at B.C. Place, exclusive use of The Dome for two months, tax breaks for FIFA. But collectively, they reflect an arrogance and sense of entitlement that has become FIFA’s calling card.
This, we remind you, is an organization that was charged with wire fraud, racketeering and money laundering three years ago. That scandal took down Sepp Blatter, the longtime president of FIFA who built his power base in Africa and Asia. In a shocking development, Blatter has also thrown his support behind the Moroccan bid for 2026. It seems you can’t rub the spots off a leopard.
In the end, the unified bid committee does represent a lost opportunity, but not the one I wrote about last week. With their collective wealth and influence, the States, Canada and Mexico — but mostly the States — had a chance to send a clear message to FIFA that things have changed, that when they’re invited to a city or country they should act like guests and not visiting royalty looking for tribute.
I understand that’s asking a lot and, with the money at stake, it’s unrealistic to expect anything different from FIFA. But this only lasts because the rest of the world tolerates these people.
This time the B.C. government chose not to. The hope is others are paying attention.