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Canada Soccer

Gronk! said:
edmonton.ctvnews.ca

Councillor appeals to province to support Edmonton's World Cup bid

Coun. Tim Cartmell says the federal government has pledged to support the city’s bid, but its funding is contingent on provincial support that’s yet to be secured. 'We need the provincial support to make this happen, it’s as simple as that,' said Cartmell.
edmonton.ctvnews.ca edmonton.ctvnews.ca
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"Cartmell says any funding agreement would have to come before the middle of March when FIFA is expected to finalize the 16 venues for the tournament."

Middle of March???

I would think sooner than that. I would have thought if FIFA is working on clusters of cities for a potential schedule that they would have wanted to know even prior to this stage which cities are solidified as being able to be hosts and Edmonton can't offer that certainty yet because of the province. If it's not addressed in the Feb 24 budget announcement I will be extremely PO'd.
 
Damn, the match should have been at Commonwealth! Sure there was the extra travel time issue to get the team back to Panama.
Would a direct team charter have been possible to reduce travel time drastically? Is that something that EEDC, or whomever, could explore to midigate further missed opportunity?
www.sportsnet.ca

Canada to host final World Cup qualifier home game vs. Jamaica at BMO Field

The Canadian men's national soccer team will host Jamaica in its final 2022 World Cup qualifying home game at BMO Field on March 27.
www.sportsnet.ca www.sportsnet.ca
 
Wrote my (UCP) MLA the other day about the provincial government supporting FIFA and his response as follows:

"I have had numerous 1 on 1 meetings with Mayor Sohi, regional mayors and the Fifa organizing committee in this area and have clearly told the merits of this important sporting event to the Minister Toews and the Premier. As these discussions are still ongoing, I can not speak to particulars of this event but as the provincial budget will be delivered next week it would be appropriate to have the budget released first and then have discussions afterwards about potential provincial funding options for this important event.

Thanks again for taking the time to reach out to me on this important issue which I agree would be a massive win for the region and province if it was to go ahead"

I am not sure whether I feel better or worse after the response but at least he got back to me. I am not sure why the discussions can't be had before the budget comes out, you know, so that it could be budgeted for, but what do I know. Maybe there will be some other pot of money that could be used. I guess we'll see, but I hope they don't dilly daddle on this. My fear is that because it is not Calgary and they won't receive funding for similar facilities, that the government won't commit.
 
Fetch said:
Wrote my (UCP) MLA the other day about the provincial government supporting FIFA and his response as follows:

"I have had numerous 1 on 1 meetings with Mayor Sohi, regional mayors and the Fifa organizing committee in this area and have clearly told the merits of this important sporting event to the Minister Toews and the Premier. As these discussions are still ongoing, I can not speak to particulars of this event but as the provincial budget will be delivered next week it would be appropriate to have the budget released first and then have discussions afterwards about potential provincial funding options for this important event.

Thanks again for taking the time to reach out to me on this important issue which I agree would be a massive win for the region and province if it was to go ahead"

I am not sure whether I feel better or worse after the response but at least he got back to me. I am not sure why the discussions can't be had before the budget comes out, you know, so that it could be budgeted for, but what do I know. Maybe there will be some other pot of money that could be used. I guess we'll see, but I hope they don't dilly daddle on this. My fear is that because it is not Calgary and they won't receive funding for similar facilities, that the government won't commit.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing and I'm glad you wrote your ucp mla. It is concerning to me that they think after the budget is the time to then start talking about supporting this bid.
Technically no provincial money is even needed for a couple of years so in reality the 2023 or 2024 and 2025 budget discussions are more impacted. It's about the province recognizing the economic opportunity of this and the other values it provides and committing to it. All forecasts are pointing to a stronger Alberta economy - in fact we will hear the ucp say that over and over again in the next election. They needed to step up already on this like the feds and city have and every week delay at this 11th hour is a major risk I fear.
 
IanO said:
Steve usually nails it and is quite the soccer advocate.
Click to expand...

Actually I don't think Steve did all his homework on this one and left out some important information about our stadium.

When the United Bid was selected, an evaluation was done of all the cities by FIFA and I have put a link to the report below.

Commonwealth stadium was one of the better ranked stadiums of the bid. And the stadium is worth 35% of the entire city score - way more than anything else. Fanfest sites, which Steve questioned in his article, is worth 3%.

Of that 35% stadium total, the biggest 3 criteria are seating capacity (#1) field of play dimensions and stadium orientation.
Of the 23 united bid cities in the running, Edmonton was one of only 7 that were found to meet the pitch area dimensions. Most other stadiums will have to do temporary extensions of their pitches which will impact seating and sight lines for fans - that's from the report.
Yes, Commonwealth may not be as pretty, as Steve argued in his story, but I love sitting in that stadium - nice views of the city, too, despite what Steve quoted from a media person.

In fact in the United Bid presentation booklet photo, Commonwealth is highlighted quite nicely.

Screenshot_20220223-173315_Gmail.jpg


Here are the technical Stadium scores out of 5.0.

Screenshot_20220223-173221_Gmail.jpg


And finally here is the full report. Edmonton also scored well with public transportation access to the stadium from downtown and scored lower as we know with accommodations (but still met minimum requirements) and transport to airport.

 
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Gronk! said:
FIFA World Cup is not in the Alberta budget but the province hasn't made a decision yet.
Click to expand...
The province has very well made their decision and long time ago. If today was any indication, the UCP and Kenney are not interested in Edmonton or anything to do with Edmonton whatsoever. It is quite clear that the recovery and growth and interest is everywhere but. Just look at the sports and rec funding Calgary received, and they arent even in the running for the World Cup hosting.

I wouldnt hold my breath for the province coming through on this. I think this is dead, although I hope to be proved wrong.
 
So how is that provincial support coming now that we are inching ever close to the announcement/support deadline? Those UCP folks must really be thinking hard how they can support the Edmonton area jobs and investment and provincial branding if its taking them this long.
 
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