Price is Right: Hosting World Cup matches could shape Vancouver's sports legacy
It ain’t over till it’s over.
Yogi Berra’s war cry from the 1973 playoff push is certainly being borrowed by the current Canucks, but they aren’t the only ones that have used it in the city lately.
Ever since the city of Vancouver was excluded from the original bid book for the 2026 Fifa world cup, I made the point of incredulous investigating to see if this was truly it. I couldn’t imagine that the nicest stadium of 50 thousand seats or more in Canada was truly being passed over for the biggest sporting event the country has ever hosted. It made no sense.
So I made some inquiries.. And no, I was told, it was not over. That was years ago.
On Tuesday, after the Premier John Horgan had publicly stated a renewed interest in hosting, FIFA agreed to let the city back in. They don’t have the games yet. But they’re at least back on the menu.
And by all accounts, FIFA itself had a large role to play. They too can see that between Commonwealth Stadium, BMO Field, and BC Place, one of these things is not like the other. One is a world class stadium, recently renovated, the other “was” a world class facility, and the other is… fine. Oh and remember, the world only saw half of the BC Place renovation in time for 2010. Strangely, the rest, including the roof, had to wait until after the games were over.
It probably doesn’t hurt that the VP of FIFA and president of CONCACAF is a Vancouver guy and SFU grad in Victor Montagliani.
He was undoubtedly of influence here lately, and was early on too when it looked like Vancouver might have had a chance to host the World Cup draw and FIFA congress that we all just watched from Qatar a couple of weeks ago.. That might be a harder file to re-open.
The province has apparently shown a true commitment to make it all work, but the negotiations will continue, and the details need to be worked out.
I don’t think any sports fans want an irresponsible blank check handed over, nor should they. There will be a cost. Fun things cost money. But there is opportunity as well. Opportunity to buoy the tourist sector that has been hit so hard.
Opportunity to rope in some charitable initiatives around the event. Acknowledging at the same time, this is a bigger but simpler event. Almost no construction will be needed here. The venue exists. So unlike the Olympics, obvious legacy projects like community housing from a village are not there.
But still, a legacy of some sort is possible.
More importantly, the country gets to show the world its best side. And the people here, who didn’t get a first hand look at the qualification for 2022, will likely get the chance to watch the games that really matter in 2026.
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