B.C. has been dropped from the Canada-U.S.-Mexico bid for the 2026 World Cup of soccer, after refusing to sign on to unknown costs.
Tourism Minister Lisa Beare confirmed Wednesday that B.C.鈥檚 application to include Vancouver in the bid was rejected, because the costs to the province could have been increased at any time. In particular there were 鈥渧ery serious concerns鈥� about the agreement to use B.C. Place stadium to host games, including unknown security and renovation costs.
The bid committee wanted to give FIFA [the World Cup governing body] the ability to 鈥渦nilaterally change the stadium agreement at any point,鈥� Beare said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking at possible stadium upgrade costs, the turf field that has to be in place. None of these concerns were addressed by the bid committee.鈥�
North America is competing with Morocco to host the 2026 tournament, one of the biggest sporting events in the world.
B.C. Liberal MLA Jas Johal said it鈥檚 a setback for tourism that B.C. is the only province that couldn鈥檛 make a deal for the three-country bid.
鈥淭he former government worked hard with the City of Vancouver, sports organizations and the tourism sector to realize this opportunity,鈥� Johal said. 鈥淏ritish Columbians, who will now have to reserve a spot on the sofa instead of the stadium, deserve to know why the B.C. NDP bailed on a chance to market British Columbia to the world.鈥�
