By Sarah Fletcher
Ottawa’s soccer community is preparing to play host to one of the largest single-sport events in Canadian history.
The FIFA Under-20 men’s World Cup is headed to Canada this summer and will showcase some of the world’s top young soccer players.
Six cities – Ottawa, Burnaby, Victoria, Edmonton, Toronto and Montreal – will host the tournament from June 30 to July 22.
Marci Morris, the general manager of the Ottawa organizing committee, says it is important for the nation’s capital to be included as one of the hosts.
“We have a world-class city and this event gives Ottawa the opportunity to show itself to the world. There will be 550 million viewers – what better way to market yourself to the world?”
Johnny Mattioli, soccer program director at the Ottawa St. Anthony Italia Soccer Club, says a tournament like this is just what the city’s growing soccer community needs.
“Not only will an event like this have an impact now, but also for years to come,” says Mattioli.
Mattioli says he is trying to contact players from the Argentinean team in hopes they will come and speak at the club’s annual summer camp.
More than 400 passes have already been purchased by club members and Mattioli says people are continually asking for more.
Richard Scott, communications director for the Canadian Soccer Association, says tickets in each host city have been selling at an unprecedented rate.
“We came in wanting to do 520,000 spectators and we hit half a million tickets before the draw itself,” says Scott. “Before we knew which countries were playing in which cities, we had already hit our mark.”
The draw to decide which countries would play in each of the cities was held March 3 in Toronto.
Ottawa will host Group E, which includes North Korea, Panama, the Czech Republic and Argentina – the tournament’s reigning champion.
Ottawa’s group is one to watch, says Scott.
“We have Argentina, the most successful [soccer] country of all time coming to Ottawa. But not only do we have a strong group of four, we also have Brazil and the U.S, two more powerhouses, which makes it very exciting for people here in Ottawa.”
Each of the six host cities is paired with a sister city where two teams from each group will play a crossover match.
Brazil and the U.S., from Montreal’s Group D, will play a highly anticipated crossover game in Ottawa on July 6.
The Ottawa organizing committee has been an active player during the entire process, says Morris.
With special attention being dedicated toward local club involvement and city tourism, she is confident Ottawa is ready for the world.
Frank Clair Stadium at Lansdowne Park is in the process of undergoing some minor technical and service improvements, but Morris says FIFA was more than happy with the site and did not request the upgrades.
FIFA has been actively involved in planning the tournament to ensure that the hotels and stadiums are up to standard and consistent with past FIFA tournaments, says Scott.
“But obviously this event is going to have a Canadian flavour to it,” he says.
Despite the enormity of planning one of the largest sporting events in the world, Scott says everything is on schedule.
The federal government has committed $4.2 million to the tournament, while the City of Ottawa is contributing $130,000 in cash and services.
“It’s a very big event. You have 24 countries coming to Canada and FIFA is the largest sporting body in the world, so you put that all together and there is a lot to be done,” says Scott.