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2009 Gold Cup "Offered" to Canada


Manuel

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Toronto Sun article about the stadium, mentions that Canada has been offered the 2009 Gold Cup.

City leaps into unknown

By KEN FIDLIN, TORONTO SUN

During more than four hours of passionate debate, Kevan Pipe's body language was the only gauge anyone needed to judge the tone of the argument.

Pipe, the CEO of the Canadian Soccer Association, and arguably the individual with the most to lose if city council voted down a stadium deal that melds three levels of government with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Ltd., was living and dying on every word.

"It's been three years, one month and 28 days coming together, but who's counting," a much-relieved Pipe said just moments after city council voted 25-13 to kick in $9.8 in cash and land worth $10 million to build a 20,000-seat stadium that will be the centrepiece of the FIFA World Under-20 championship in 2007.

"The face of our sport in Canada has just changed in the last 15 minutes," said Pipe. "The Mayor was right when he said this is about vision-building. We're bringing the world to Toronto. A billion people will be watching on TV and thousands more will come to the city.

"And that's just the start. We've been offered the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup and we're going after the 2011 Women's World Cup."

There were times, though, through the lengthy debate that Pipe looked as if he might be in need of a tall building to jump off when the results were in.

While the project had the unflagging support of Mayor David Miller and his deputy Joe Pantalone, who had fast-tracked the project over the last two weeks, many councillors were bitterly opposed on a variety of levels.

Some objected to the public sector jumping into bed with MLSEL, very much a free-enterprise operation. For others, this hasty process comes to soon after the findings of the Bellamy report in the wake of the city hall computer scandal.

"This is so wrong," Scarboro-Agincourt councillor Mike DelGrande said. "It's so bad, that as a forensics auditor, I would have to question this deal. There's nothing in writing on anything.

"How come this project didn't go through a regular process? Is this open and transparent? How can you make it open and transparent by not allowing anyone else in to bid?"

Beyond that others, like Etobicoke's Rob Ford wondered how Toronto could even consider this project, given its fragile financial situation.

"This is a sucker stadium, not a soccer stadium," Ford said. "We are going to lose our shirts."

In addition to the city's $19.8 million commitment of money and land, the federal government has committed $27 million, and the Ontario government $8 million. MLSEL is in for $8 million and will market the naming rights for an anticipated $10 million.

Even though MLSEL, which will build and manage the stadium, has accepted responsibility for any construction over-runs and has agreed to share any profits and will swallow the first $250,000 of any operating losses, many in the room maintained a healthy dose of skepticism.

"This is a bad process that produced a bad deal for the city and its taxpayers," councillor Sylvia Watson said.

Many councillors favoured deferring the issue for more study but that effectively would have killed the deal. Major League Soccer conveniently had imposed a deadline for the end of the month on MLSEL's tentative agreement to get an expansion franchise. And FIFA, the world governing body of soccer, has been breathing down Pipe's neck for months now, worried that facilities were not going to be up to snuff for the world under-20 championship.

In the gallery, Pipe was confident at the start of the debate that the project already had enough committed votes. But as the day progressed, he sensed more opposition than he had expected.

"I've not experienced this before, so I didn't know what to think," he said. "You just never know how it's going to turn out."

And that's what haunted many of the councillors last evening. They don't know how it's going to turn out. Perhaps Howard Moscoe said it best.

"I'm leery about public-private projects which inevitably become public-pirate projects," he said.

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[:0]

A grand idea. Maybe just the breath of fresh air the crap tourny needs. Dought that it would be any more successful than it has been at the US venues, but it would be nice change up for all concearned.

Wonder if he ment the whole tourny or just a group?

Montreal and Vancouver would both have their parks up and running by then. And isn't 2009 the next scheduled MLS expansion year?

Hmmm. Maybe this tourny'll be getting a massive breath of fresh air.

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quote:Originally posted by Cheeta

[:0]

A grand idea. Maybe just the breath of fresh air the crap tourny needs. Dought that it would be any more successful than it has been at the US venues, but it would be nice change up for all concearned.

Wonder if he ment the whole tourny or just a group?

Montreal and Vancouver would both have their parks up and running by then. And isn't 2009 the next scheduled MLS expansion year?

Hmmm. Maybe this tourny'll be getting a massive breath of fresh air.

There's been talk of new stadiums in Moncton & Halifax.

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Yeah, I'll wait until we get something more credible than someone espousing after a great relief. We've heard a lot of things from the CSA in the past years (remember the Labour Day friendly? - I always try to come up with a different one) and until I see some details and some official confirmation (that means CONCACAF), I'll remain skeptical.

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I will be speaking to Clive Toye who is involved with the Concacef so since he knows the setting and the great news we may very well have the Gold Cup here in T.O. Things are happening and this is only the start. Wait till the girls get hold of the place,you ain't seen nothing yet.

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If the Saputo stadium and Vanciuver stadium are built, I would say that the whole tournament will take place in Canada! Thats only guessing though.

We would have 4 grounds that could hold GC and Women's WC games. Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Edmonton.

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Guest speedmonk42
quote:Originally posted by Cheeta

[:0]

A grand idea. Maybe just the breath of fresh air the crap tourny needs. Dought that it would be any more successful than it has been at the US venues, but it would be nice change up for all concearned.

Wonder if he ment the whole tourny or just a group?

Montreal and Vancouver would both have their parks up and running by then. And isn't 2009 the next scheduled MLS expansion year?

Hmmm. Maybe this tourny'll be getting a massive breath of fresh air.

Good god are you kidding? You doubt that it would be more successfull than the US version? I bet we will kill the US version of this tourney so bad it will embarrass them. The carribean and central american groups will go to those games for sure in and around TO and MOntreal.

Games that would be empty in the US will get more than 10+K in Toronto. Trinidad vs Honduras, ectt... these games will sell tickets in Canada, but probably not in the US.

Not to mention a much greater soccer population that will just plain get out and see games.

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quote:Originally posted by RJB

The critisisms by the councilors is troublesome to me. I'm not familiar with these types of deals, but can anyone help me by answering if this really is a bad deal for the City of Toronto?

Those same councilers would be critical of homes for the homeless, they are just a bunch of idiots.

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quote:Originally posted by aussoccerfan

I'm talking about my home- Atlantic Canada.

How many smilies does it take to indicate a joke? :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

I have lived in Dartmouth (OK, Cole Harbour is or was technically part of a seperate County) and I went to school at Sir Robert Borden Jr High with kids from Preston. I know what you meant but to people this side of the Manitoba-Ontario border Ontario is part of "Eastern Canada". You live in the Maritimes, a suburb of Eastern Canada. :D:)[:P]:D:)

But seriously, I think games in Halifax would be great.

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quote:

How many smilies does it take to indicate a joke?

I have lived in Dartmouth (OK, Cole Harbour is or was technically part of a seperate County) and I went to school at Sir Robert Borden Jr High with kids from Preston. I know what you meant but to people this side of the Manitoba-Ontario border Ontario is part of "Eastern Canada". You live in the Maritimes, a suburb of Eastern Canada.

But seriously, I think games in Halifax would be great.

Well associating the Maritimes as a suburb of central Canada isn't much of a joke. Kind of offensive actually :)
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quote:

Good god are you kidding? You doubt that it would be more successfull than the US version? I bet we will kill the US version of this tourney so bad it will embarrass them. The carribean and central american groups will go to those games for sure in and around TO and MOntreal.

Games that would be empty in the US will get more than 10+K in Toronto. Trinidad vs Honduras, ectt... these games will sell tickets in Canada, but probably not in the US.

Not to mention a much greater soccer population that will just plain get out and see games.

Yeah because other Canadian soccer events are so well supported. And there is no diversity in America

Give me a break.

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quote:Originally posted by speedmonk42

Don't underestimate the the attraction of central american and Carribean teams in places like Miami. They really draw well there and there is greater concentration of central american ex-pats in that area than anywhere in Canada. And they are very loyal to their national sides. For all the talk of the multicultural nature of Canadian cities, it would appear to me that in Canada these comunities are smaller and the ethnicity is more diverse than in places like the Southern states. Therefore I suspect that a significant part of the support for central american sides in places like TO and Montreal will come from visitors from the US. Much like what we saw in Edm in the Honduras game.

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quote:

Good god are you kidding? You doubt that it would be more successfull than the US version? I bet we will kill the US version of this tourney so bad it will embarrass them. The carribean and central american groups will go to those games for sure in and around TO and MOntreal.

Games that would be empty in the US will get more than 10+K in Toronto. Trinidad vs Honduras, ectt... these games will sell tickets in Canada, but probably not in the US.

Not to mention a much greater soccer population that will just plain get out and see games.

*lol* Why do you think concacaf puts every Gold Cup in the US? Because we are the only country that can draw 30k plus for a Costa Rica-Jamaica match up. Not even soccer mad Mexico could accomplish that. In 2007 the US will have 6 soccer specific stadiums. The Gold Cup will look a lot better being played in appropiate sized venues rather than NFL stadiums. That said if Canada can get 3 soccer stadiums built by 2009, and has 3 MLS teams , combining the Gold Cup with MLS double headers to showcase your teams would be a great thing.

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