Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton and Lumen Field in Seattle were already close enough links, via charter flights, to make Victoria one of 52 officially listed potential pre-2026 World Cup soccer training camp and exhibition game sites throughout sa国际传媒, the U.S. and Mexico.
Having sa国际传媒 Place as a venue, however, would not only make the Island鈥檚 position even stronger, it would likely clinch training-camp deals with Vancouver-group national teams.
Premier John Horgan said this week sa国际传媒 is 鈥渆ntertaining鈥� the possibility of hosting 2026 World Cup games after the Quebec government bowed out due to projected cost overruns for Montreal.
鈥淰ictoria is in the official 2026 bid book as a training venue, and so having sa国际传媒 Place as a playing venue, would be a huge advantage and increases the probability of teams wanting to base on the Island ahead of the World Cup,鈥� said Keith Wells, executive director of the Greater Victoria Sports Tourism Commission.
鈥淭hat would greatly improve our chances of getting teams here.鈥�
The sa国际传媒 government had originally taken Vancouver out of the running and the city was not part of the original and successful sa国际传媒-U.S.-Mexico bid in 2018 because the Horgan government did not like the financial arrangement offered by FIFA. The NDP stance was controversial and not popular among the province鈥檚 sports fans, who said it was a mistake to let this rare opportunity pass by. But a lot has changed since then, notably a province looking for ways to revive its tourism sector post-pandemic and a FIFA organization also looking at a weakened bargaining position due to post-pandemic realities.
鈥淭he province needs a sports win,鈥� said Wells.
Victoria was among 52 training-base options presented to FIFA in the official bid booklet put forward in 2018 by the successful United Bid from sa国际传媒, the U.S. and Mexico to host the 2026 World Cup. Two venues, University of Victoria and Royal Athletic Park, are mentioned specifically in the United bid book as potential pre-World Cup training bases for the national teams that will be based in Edmonton or Seattle. Wells, on Wednesday, also mentioned Shawnigan Lake School, Brentwood College and PISE as other options.
鈥淓ven before Vancouver came back into the picture, we鈥檝e never stopped thinking about this for the Island in relation to the Edmonton and Seattle first-round groups,鈥� said Wells.
Pre-World Cup training camps 鈥� especially for the top-tier national sides such as Germany, England, Italy, Spain, Brazil or Argentina 鈥� are elaborate and involved operations featuring millionaire pro Premierships players who gather with their national teams about a month before the event starts. Most national sides establish their pre-World Cup training compounds in cities away from, but reasonably near by flight time, their first-round group-game cities. Security is high. Five-star hotels for the top teams, or private-school dorms and residences for lesser national squads, are required for the pre-World Cup training venues, along with FIFA-approved natural grass fields that are nearby.
The Island鈥檚 oldest soccer club, Vic West, announced in May it wants to restore Royal Athletic Park to its former soccer glory to stage team training camps and exhibition games ahead of the 2026 World Cup. A key part of the proposal is bringing the natural-grass field up to FIFA standards, as it was when RAP hosted sa国际传媒 qualifying games leading to the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and 1986 World Cup, and again when the park hosted a group in the 2007 FIFA Under-20 World Cup.
鈥淎 big target for us is 2026,鈥� said David Lawes, project lead for Vic West.
Shawnigan Lake School, with fields, lake and dorms, has hosted numerous Canadian national team rugby and rowing camps as well as Vancouver Canucks development camps and would be well positioned to host a fully-enclosed World Cup national team camp in 2026..
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