Mayor Jim Watson recently announced that Ottawa should be one of the host cities for Canada’s bid for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Even if Canada submitted the winning bid, it wouldn’t be good for Canada.
Canada’s one and only appearance in World Cup was in Mexico in 1986. We have yet to qualify for a World Cup since.
Until Canada can show its elite soccer talent to the world, we should not try to be a host nation, or even a host city, of a sport that doesn’t reflect our country’s talent.
In addition, many Canadian players – both men and women – play in leagues outside of Canada (in the U.S., England, Germany, Turkey, etc.) because there are not as many opportunities for them at home.
Canada does not have the resources required to host an event of this magnitude. Unlike the Olympics, World Cup games are held across the country. Games for the this year’s World Cup in Brazil will be spread out across 12 different cities.
Canada currently only has three stadiums large enough to host the demand of that magnitude – none of which are in Ottawa.
In comparison, the smallest stadium at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa held just under 40,000 people, with the largest holding almost 85,000.
Not surprisingly, Toronto and Montreal each have one stadium, but the costs to expand them and bring them up to scratch for major international attention, combined with the cost of building larger stadiums in other cities, would not be cost effective.
Even buildings that could hold a large crowd, such as Montreal’s Olympic Stadium, have roofs, which take away the grandeur of watching an open air soccer match.
Canada didn't lose any money by hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics, but didn't profit either. And with Toronto hosting the Pan Am Games next summer along with the Women’s World Cup, Canada has already spent more than enough money to host international competitions.
Lastly, Canada will host the Women’s World Cup in 2015, where games will be played at Lansdowne Park next summer. After winning a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, it is clear that the women’s team has a much higher reputation on the international stage than the men’s team.
Because women’s soccer doesn’t have as large an audience as men’s soccer, a stadium like Lansdowne makes sense to host preliminary matches.
However, despite this event happening next summer, the City of Ottawa and Canada have done little to promote the event.
Instead of Watson being excited to host the world next summer, he wants to plan an ambitious and costly project that may go to waste once the games end.
After many international sporting events, many stadiums built specifically for those purposes fall into disrepair and disuse due to high operating costs, such as the Olympic Stadiums in Athens from 2004 and Beijing from 2008.
There is no room in Ottawa to build more stadiums. Some criticize Ottawa for having a NHL team playing in Kanata instead of downtown like most large sports cities in Canada and the U.S.
If Ottawa builds a stadium it would most likely be in the suburbs. It would be very inaccessible to tourists, who may not want to go outside the city just to see a preliminary game, since the big-ticket games would most likely be held in Toronto and Montreal.
While Canada hosting a World Cup may generate more interest in soccer as what similar to what happened when the U.S. hosted in 1994, Canada’s accomplishments in women’s soccer, and its hosting of the Women’s World Cup next summer, may already bring awareness to soccer in Canada, but to women’s soccer and women’s sports in general.
Canada should analyze the response to the Women’s World Cup before even contemplating hosting an event of greater magnitude.
Until Ottawa and Canada has the money and the reputation that comes with having a world-renowned soccer team, Canada should not host the World Cup.