The 2007 U20 WC draw to be broadcast on CBC

[loyola]

Nice to see the CBC being involve at this stage, I wasn't expecting the draw to be on TV. I ts showing CBC seriousness about soccer I think, I hope they'll continue to surprise us.

Men’s U-20 Team

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Attendance for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007 – It’s huge!

Ottawa, Ontario – FIFA and the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) are pleased to announce that since ticket packages were made available to the public over 3 months ago on Saturday, July 15; over 350,000 seats (over 65% of the stated target of 520,000) have been sold for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007.

‘Obviously, the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) is very pleased with the successes of our ticket sales campaign. We’ve set the stage to reach the 520,000 spectators we had anticipated for the event next summer,’ stated Kevan Pipe, CSA’s Chief Operating Officer. ‘This would give the FIFA U-20 event the record as the largest single-sport, sporting event ever held in Canada.’

‘Strong group tournament package sales in Edmonton, Ottawa, and Victoria have been complimented by brisk online sales through www.FIFA.com for Toronto, Burnaby and Montréal.’

The announcement was made during a press conference in light of the recent FIFA site inspection visit where FIFA Vice-President and Chairman of the FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007, Jack A. Warner, led a high level FIFA and CSA delegation on a site tour of the six host venues and stadiums in Victoria, Burnaby, Edmonton, Ottawa, Montréal, and Toronto in preparation of the tournament.

“I am pleased to say that our Canadian hosts have been first class in every way and have done more than simply meet all of FIFA’s expectations – they have surpassed them,” said Warner. “Having sold so many tickets before most of the teams are even known is quite an achievement and makes me very confident that next summer’s event will indeed be a huge success.”

The FIFA World Youth Championship held in the Netherlands in 2005 achieved an impressive attendance of 503,000 spectators.

Ticket packages are available for purchase via www.FIFA.com or by calling 1-866-662-3452 (toll-free in Canada and the USA).

Portugal slated to play in Toronto at the new National soccer stadium

FIFA also announced today that Portugal would be placed into the group of teams that will play in Toronto. The proposal, which was put forth by the Canadian Soccer Association due to the large Portuguese community living in Toronto, was approved at the October 17th meeting of the Organizing Committee for the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Zurich.

FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007 Official Draw to be held March 3rd

FIFA (Fédération internationale de Football Association), world soccer’s governing body, and the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) announced earlier today that the Official Draw date for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007 will be held Saturday, March 3rd in Toronto.

The Official Draw is an anticipated event for every country who has earned a berth to this year’s tournament. It will have a major impact on the competition by determining a team’s match dates, home venue and most important, their opponents during group match play. It will set the stage for the tournament and create speculations of early favorites.

With seven teams already qualified for the 2007 event – including host Canada and six European representatives (Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, Portugal, Scotland and Spain) – the 17 remaining teams will be decided between October 29th - when the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) qualification

competition kicks off in India – and February 25th, 2007, when the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) brings its qualification to a close.

NOTE: CBC/Société Radio-Canada will be broadcasting this event live. The Draw will be open to the Media. Information on Media accreditation will follow shortly.

Official Draw details:

Location: Liberty Grand Entertainment Complex, 25 British Columbia Road, Exhibition Place, Toronto, Ontario. M6K 3C3

Date/time: Saturday, March 3rd, 2006 at 4:30pm ET.

FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007 – It’s gonna be huge.

In 2007, the world’s biggest game is coming to Canada. Canada will host the World’s finest under-20 players in six cities across the country – Victoria, Burnaby, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal – June 30 - July 22, 2007.

The biennial event is second only to the FIFA World Cup™ in size and scope and will showcase the most talented under-20 soccer players in the world. The tournament has been the coming-out party for some of the game’s top players - Maradona, Saviola, Raúl, Marco Van Basten, Luis Figo, Ruiz Costa, Thierry Henry, Adriano, Roberto Carlos, Bebeto and Dunga as well as Canada’s Craig Forrest and many members of the current Men’s World Cup Team.

Last held in CONCACAF in 1983 in Mexico, Canada’s most recent participation in this event occurred last June in the Netherlands from June 10 - July 2, 2005.

Canada enjoyed its best ever finish in a World Championship in December 2003, losing to eventual silver medalist Spain on a golden goal in the quarter finals in the United Arab Emirates.

For more information regarding the FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007, please visit www.FIFA.com.

[JamesW]

More good news for soccer in Canada. I think it is very clear that soccer is growing very fast in Canada. It would appear that CBC can see this as well, thus the reason for more coverage.