Canada coach says Vancouver Whitecaps players were ‘poisoned’ in Mexico
Canada men’s national soccer team coach Jesse Marsch wasn’t exactly mincing his words when it came to the most recent controversy surrounding the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Last weekend, the Whitecaps were easily beaten by Cruz Azul in the biggest game in their club’s history, falling 5-0 in the Concacaf Champions Cup Final taking place in Mexico City.
On Thursday, the Whitecaps shared the news that many of their players had drawn ill upon their return from Mexico, not dissimilar to when the Columbus Crew got food poisoning on their 2024 final trip to Mexico against Pachuca, a 3-0 loss for the MLS side.
Sam Adekugbe, Jayden Nelson, and Ali Ahmed all have joined Canada this week for their Canadian Shield tournament taking place in Toronto, but Marsch admitted that the three Whitecaps players aren’t 100 per cent.
“The three Vancouver players were poisoned. They’re better now, they’re probably not ready for 90-minute performances. But it, for me, is appalling that this is the second year in a row that Concacaf and the powers that be have allowed an MLS team to go down to Mexico for a big final and get poisoned,” Marsch said in media remarks today, as shared by Joe Callaghan.
“It’s ridiculous. Something has to be done to protect these environments.”
Marsch added that his thoughts were just allegations, but pointed to similar circumstances happening two years in a row to MLS teams on their visits to Mexico.
“I don’t have any proof here that this [happened], but it’s not random. It’s not random that two years in a row this has happened,” he continued. “If I were the Vancouver Whitecaps, if I were the Columbus Crew, if I were MLS, I would be absolutely angry that this has been allowed to happen.”
Marsch, who previously worked for the Montreal Impact and New York Red Bulls, as well as an assistant with the U.S. National team, spoke of his own past trips to Mexico.
“I remember being with the US National Team and club teams going down to Mexico, it was ‘will the fire alarm be pulled in the middle of the night? Will there be dancing and singing?’ And those are somewhat spirited, competitive advantages that are created when you go down to Mexico. But poisoning the team is another, is another version,” Marsch added.
Canada’s official travel advisory to Mexico warns of travellers’ diarrhea, typhoid, and salmonellosis as common illnesses that can affect visitors to the country.
Canada plays Ukraine on Saturday in Toronto before taking on the Ivory Coast on Tuesday.
- You might also like:
- Big number of Vancouver Whitecaps players got sick in Mexico