[Official] Canada's Men National Football Team (Soccer)

[Bounce000]

I hope soccer canada bought the Panama team tickets to the Vancouver Aquarium, or free bottle service at one of the Nightclubs. What a waste of a trip.

[Alflives]

2 minutes ago, Bounce000 said:

I hope soccer canada bought the Panama team tickets to the Vancouver Aquarium, or free bottle service at one of the Nightclubs. What a waste of a trip.

Isn’t Soccer Canada being sued for 10 million by Iran?  They’ll still have still pay the Panama team too.  (Couple mil?). 

Good timing by the men players to pull the pin.

 

[Bruce Boudreau]

15 minutes ago, RUPERTKBD said:

As someone who cheers for the Dutch internationally, (after Canada of course) I might not be the most unbiased observer, but IMO, they are a world class side. For whatever reason, they haven't been able to win that final match....

 

It's encouraging to see Memphis looking in form. He really is key to the Netherlands' chances....

That was a surprise result but Belgium also didn't have arguably the top goal keeper in the world in Champions league winner superstar goalkeeper Thibault Courtois.

[Gnarcore]

Players cancel a game last minute over this? Great way to burn up support from thousands of people. 

[JM_]

3 hours ago, Alflives said:

Could this be retaliation by the players for their game v Iran being cancelled?  They waited for the last minute and dropped this bomb.  

could be. SC leadership could be a bunch of clowns too. 

[RUPERTKBD]

Just like the cancelled match against Iran.....a decision that could have and should have been made beforehand, is left until the last minute and the fans end up the losers....

 

Do we really believe Herdman won't jump at a rumored chance to manage in England, considering the gong show he's been watching for the past few weeks?

[Jaimito]

 

 

[Scottish⑦Canuck]

It’s greed on both sides, let’s be honest. The World Cup shouldn’t be about money though. Even the less talented members of the squad are paid well above the average member of society.

How about forgoing that bonus and putting it into developing the game at a grassroots level instead?

 

Leaving fans who have spent hard earned money on tickets and possibly travel / accommodation is really poor.

[Gurn]

This is what they are fighting about:

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/sports/soccer/explaining-the-canadian-men-s-national-soccer-team-s-compensation-dispute/ar-AAYbSFu?bk=1&ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=437d39f444694cccb9504feaf0dd0285

VANCOUVER – Just when all appeared calm in Canadian soccer for a few days, an aftershock hit.

It started with the cancellation of a controversial friendly vs. Iran in Vancouver after Canada Soccer faced heavy criticism for inviting the Iranians onto Canadian soil following the downing of Flight PS752 in 2020 — 85 Canadians were among 176 killed after the airplane was shot down by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.

As a result, a makeshift match with Panama was arranged for Sunday at BC Place.

And then, in the days leading up to that friendly vs. Panama, the Canadian players refused to train because they are not happy with Canada Soccer and the state of negotiations on a new contract between the sport’s governing body and its players that addresses a variety of issues, including compensation from the prize money that the federation is set to receive for participating in the World Cup in Qatar later this year.

That crescendoed into the players refusing to play in the already hastily planned Panama game, forcing its cancellation about an hour before gates were scheduled to open to the fans.

Thankfully, some progress has been made. After more discussions with Canada Soccer on Sunday, the players returned to training on Monday afternoon at UBC, though a deal hasn’t been struck yet.

How did a program and federation that built up so much goodwill during its scintillating World Cup qualifying run end up here, though? Why are they fighting, and where do they go from here with Nations League matches against Curacao and Honduras on the horizon?

Here is an explainer on the dispute, the hot-button issues at play and a timeline for what’s ahead.

What are the players and federation negotiating?

Talks between the men’s national team players and acting general secretary Earl Cochrane began after the 4-0 win over Jamaica on March 27 at BMO Field in Toronto, the day Canada officially qualified for the World Cup.

On Sunday, the players released a statement via a letter published by TSN’s Rick Westhead that said negotiations had been prolonged “due to executives delaying the process and taking vacations.”

The letter also included a list of asks from the players. Let’s break down some of those demands.

World Cup compensation that includes 40% of prize money and a comprehensive friends and family package for the 2022 World Cup.

Playing at the 2022 World Cup guarantees a healthy chunk of prize money from FIFA for each participating country. The total payout for the Canadians is expected be at least $10 million, although head coach John Herdman told The Athletic that it could be $15 million.

Canada Soccer confirmed it had offered the men’s and women’s national teams 60 per cent of the pot, to be split evenly between the two squads. A source familiar with the negotiations within Canada Soccer told Sportsnet that the players’ ask for 40 per cent of the prize money was a net figure and only covered the men’s portion of the FIFA windfalls. Representatives from the players’ side have not responded to requests to clarify those details.

The request from the Canadian players wasn’t acceptable to Canada Soccer.

If we as an association only had the men’s team and the women’s team to take care of … we could still not afford this proposal,” Canada Soccer president Nick Bontis said during a press conference on Sunday. “It is untenable as written.”

Bontis also offered some clarity on the negotiations around the travel and ticket package for players’ friends and families to Qatar.

“Their proposal says nothing about tickets. Our proposal back to them says nothing about tickets, so that was actually a new item for our discussion. No problem, we’ll figure out what we can do about tickets but I also want to point out that as of the time we started negotiating, we don’t control tickets. FIFA controls tickets.”

An equitable structure with the women’s national team that shares the same player match fees, percentage of prize money earned at our respective FIFA World Cups and the development of a women’s domestic league.

On Sunday, the women’s team released a statement saying that while they continue to negotiate with Canada Soccer and are “happy” that the men are pushing for an equitable structure, they do not view equal percentages as equal pay.

More former players from the men’s, women’s and para teams integrated into leadership positions within Canada Soccer Board & Organization.

Bontis said there are bylaws stipulating that an alumnus national team player must be on Canada Soccer’s board of directors. As of now, there is just one: Brittany Baxter. However, Bontis confirmed that the board is still undergoing changes, with ex-general secretary Peter Montopoli and former deputy general secretary Joe Guest stepping down at the end of last year and the federation still searching for permanent replacements.

Transparency and a review of the Canadian Soccer Business Agreement.

Apart from splitting World Cup revenues, the crux of these negotiations surrounds Canadian Soccer Business (CSB), launched by the Canadian Premier League to “represent commercial assets and inventory for marquee soccer properties in Canada.”

From its formation in March 2018, CSB has represented all corporate partnerships and broadcast rights for women’s and men’s national teams, on behalf of Canada Soccer. The organization helped facilitate a 10-year rights deal with MediaPro, which launched the OneSoccer streaming service in Canada to broadcast CPL and Canadian national team matches, among other properties.

However, the exact nature of the relationship between Canada Soccer and Canadian Soccer Business is unknown. MediaPro was said to have invested $200 million over the 10 years, while CSB, via CEO Scott Mitchell, said in a statement the business has “invested tens of millions of dollars, and will continue to invest millions more, to benefit Canadian Soccer.”

Steve Reed, Bontis’ predecessor, was Canada Soccer president when MediaPro and CSB became involved.

“We are proud of our agreement with Canada Soccer and what it means to the Canadian soccer ecosystem,” Mitchell said via a statement. “We are prepared to be fully transparent about our agreement which has included an unprecedented amount of revenue to Canada Soccer in the past 18 months in the forms of sponsorship and international media dollars.”

But with Canadian Soccer Business reaching the agreement with MediaPro, there are questions about how MediaPro’s investments are divvied up between CSB, the CPL and Canada Soccer.

Multiple outlets, including Sportsnet, questioned Cochrane and Bontis about CSB’s involvement with the federation and CSB’s share of the broadcasting revenues which was referenced in the players’ letter. Neither official provided a clear response.

“[Broadcasting revenue] is one source of revenue,” Bontis explained. “There are other sources of revenue that we have as well at our disposal, so I don’t want to make a direct link. It’s not accurate to say that this CSB somehow hampers our ability to pay the men. It doesn’t. We’ve offered the men a fair deal and offered the women a fair deal given the financial situation that we’re in and what we predicted that we are going to be in leading up to 2026.”

According to Canada Soccer’s financial statements from 2020 and 2021, revenues increased by more than 50 per cent from 2019 to 2021 — thanks largely to matches being played last year compared to a pandemic-affected 2020. Net assets stood at about $5 million in 2021, up from $3.9 million in 2020.

So what’s next?

Canada faces Curacao at BC Place in its Concacaf Nations League opener on Thursday. On Tuesday, the team put out a release confirming it would play the game.

If the team was not to play, Concacaf and FIFA could sanction Canada Soccer.

The difference with cancelling friendlies is that payments are made to the affected federations from the responsible party, or Canada Soccer in this case.

That’s why it’s imperative that progress is made so that there are no further disruptions.

[King Heffy]

Our women need these funds far more than our men who are paid far better by their professional teams.  They've also been far more successful internationally and have in many ways paved the path for the success the men are currently having.

[UnkNuk]

I see the Men's team beat Curaçao 4-0 in their first game of the Concacaf Nations League tournament last night.  (And, no, I'm not sure what the Concacaf Nations League tournament is all about either!)

 

Alphonso scored a pair.

 

Player ratings can be found here:

 

https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/canada-player-ratings-alphonso-davies-shines-in-return-to-bc-place

[RUPERTKBD]

Not sure if anyone is interested, but the Australia -  Peru WC qualifier is on TSN2 right now. Nil-Nil approaching half time.

[Alflives]

Looks like we will host more World Cup games than Toronto.  Toronto is the LOSER CITY WITH THE LOSER LEAFS.

[-Vintage Canuck-]

 

[Jaimito]

 

 

[Jaimito]

Hope this is official.  

 

 

 

 

 

[thedestroyerofworlds]

BC place will not be the only location that will have to swap out artificial turf.  A number of American sites will (MetLife in NJ, Cowboys stadium, Seattle, Atlanta among others).

 

 

https://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/article/toronto-vancouver-selected-as-host-cities-for-2026-fifa-world-cup/

Toronto, Vancouver selected as host cities for 2026 FIFA World Cup

 

Toronto and Vancouver have been selected as host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Edmonton was the third Canadian host city bidder, with the intention to play at Commonwealth Stadium, which hosted the 2015 Women's World Cup. But despite showcasing the stadium in Canada's 2022 World Cup qualifying run last November, Edmonton was not selected.

 

Vancouver made a resurgence as a host city bidder in April after Montreal dropped out of contention. The Quebec provincial government had withdrawn funding citing cost overruns.

Vancouver's BC Place, which hosted the 2015 Women's World Cup final, may need a few changes ahead of 2026. The 54,405-seat stadium offers an artificial turf surface, which is currently not approved for FIFA World Cup games.

Upgrades are also on the docket for Toronto's BMO Field. The home of MLS' Toronto FC and the CFL's Toronto Argonauts can currently seat 30,000 fans but the FIFA World Cup standard asks for stadiums holding upwards of 40,000 people.

Toronto and Vancouver will join 12 cities in the United States and three in Mexico.

FULL LIST:

Canada: Toronto, Vancouver

Mexico: Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey

USA: Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle

[RUPERTKBD]

Looks like Alf might finally get that grass field he's been wanting for so many years....

 

Hopefully they make it permanent.....

[Jaimito]

Host cities are also obliged to organize a 34-day FanFest.

 

Tournament changes

 

FIFA expanded the field for the 2026 World Cup with 48 countries competing, up from the usual 32.

 

The new format will see 16 groups, each made up of three countries.

 

As a first in the tournament’s history, there must be a winner in every group match — and if the game is tied at the end of regulation, teams will immediately proceed to penalty kicks without going into extra time.

 

The top two teams in each group will advance to the round of 32, where half of them will survive and advance to the round of 16, which in turn will result in eight remaining contenders competing for a quarter-finals berth.

 

Then four teams will advance to the semifinals and two of them will compete for the ultimate prize, the 2026 FIFA World Cup  trophy.

 

Renovations ahead

 

Both BMO Field in Toronto and BC Place in Vancouver will need a major makeover to reach FIFA’s venue standards for hosting the World Cup games.

 

BMO Field, home of the Toronto FC and the Toronto Argonauts, has a capacity of 30,000 seats. City officials have said plans are underway to temporarily increase seating capacity to about 45,000 people to meet FIFA’s minimum standard of at least 40,000 seats. Officials have previously said the plan is to expand the north and south ends of the stadium before the 2026 big event.

 

BC Place doesn’t have the capacity issue as it sits 54,500 fans. But it has artificial turf, a no-go for FIFA, so a natural grass surface will be needed.

 

 

[RUPERTKBD]

BTW: Sorry Edmonton....

 

....but a least you still have that big mall and that football team that used to win all the time.....