The gloom is lifting off the pitches with much beautiful news for the beautiful game this month as the Euros are about to start and sa国际传媒 is rolling in World Cup 2022 qualifying matches.
It continues through the pro club level as Island-based Pacific FC will open on June 26 against the HFX Wanderers of Halifax in the single-site Canadian Premier League bubble to be staged without fans at IG Stadium in Winnipeg.
Each team will play eight games in the bubble through July 24, after which will be assessed the planned move to a more normal season format for their final 20 games, with each team playing in their home stadiums with spectators. That will depend on health regulations in effect over the summer.
The CPL has dribbled the ball as well as any sports organization has through the pandemic. While the 2020 Euros were pushed back one year and sa国际传媒鈥檚 2020 internationals at Starlight Stadium in Langford were cancelled, the CPL managed to mount a 2020 bubble season in Prince Edward Island. IG Stadium is also home to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. While the Canadian Football League did not play in 2020 and has yet to announce its 2021 plans, the CPL is moving right in.
鈥淲e know what it takes, we have the playbook and we know how to execute flawlessly as we did in 2020,鈥� said CPL commissioner David Clanachan.
鈥淲e have to be as flexible and adaptable as possible and be ready to pivot and deal with the cards dealt,鈥� he said from Toronto.
鈥淲e are manically fixated on getting in a full season, [the latter part] with fans in attendance. But obviously not until the health authorities say it鈥檚 OK to do so.
鈥淲e are a nation of rule followers and are very conservative that way. But we have full confidence the pandemic is going to turn and that, when it does, we will return to our home markets. We are planning to return to our home markets to play matches in front of fans following the single-city portion of the schedule. I鈥檝e told our franchises to keep our heads up and let鈥檚 be ready for when that time comes.鈥�
Pacific FC had bid to host the bubble games at Starlight Stadium in Langford, but the package put together by the province of Manitoba and City of Winnipeg was the most thorough of the bids received.
According to Dayna Spiring, president and CEO of Economic Development Winnipeg, the tournament will mean more than 5,500 hotel room nights booked and $4.9 million in economic spinoffs as well as intangible benefits such as media exposure for the city. The tournament is being supported by the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce and Economic Development Winnipeg as part of a $50-million provincial recovery fund.
Bubbles are familiar now in sports, including for CPL teams.
鈥淲e learned a lot about ourselves and our character last year in being in a confined space in the P.E.I. bubble,鈥� said PFC head coach Pa-Modou Kah. 鈥淚t brought us closer together,鈥� added Kah, who played for Norway in Euro qualifying.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 wait. Football is about playing games and we鈥檙e hungry to play games. Hopefully, after the bubble, we will be able to do so in front of our home fans later in the season.鈥�
All games in the Winnipeg bubble will be broadcast online on OneSoccer. CBC-TV broadcast nationally a weekend doubleheader during the 2020 CPL bubble season from P.E.I., but there has been no announcement about that for 2021.
The CPL was established in 2019 as part of the requirement to have a domestic pro soccer league by the time sa国际传媒 co-hosts the World Cup in 2026 with the U.S. and Mexico.
