They are being dubbed the Island Games, but they won鈥檛 be on this Island.
From rock to rock, Pacific FC will fly to Prince Edward Island to contest the 2020 Canadian Premier League pro soccer season. Charlottetown beat out bids from Langford and Moncton, N.B., to host all games, beginning Aug. 13 with a rematch of the 2019 championship final between Forge FC of Hamilton and Cavalry FC of Calgary.
The league said the rest of the schedule will be announced over the next few days. The eight teams will play each other once in a 28-match first stage. The top-four teams will advance to a six-game group stage, in which the second- and third-place teams will meet in a semifinal, to decide who will play the top team in a single-game championship final in late September. The games will be played without spectators, but all will be produced and packaged by Spanish giant MediaPro and streamed live online via OneSoccer. CPL commissioner David Clanachan said the league is also in talks with two national TV networks and 鈥渧ery close鈥� to a deal.
Pacific FC officials took Langford鈥檚 hosting snub in their stride.
鈥淲e鈥檙e very excited to have the season take place at all considering the crazy situation going on,鈥� said PFC president Josh Simpson.
鈥淥ur players are excited about this tournament, regardless of location. The most important thing is getting back to playing. Our fans couldn鈥檛 have been able to come out to watch the games live, anyways. They can still follow our games live in P.E.I. and that鈥檚 what matters most.鈥�
Simpson said P.E.I. came up with 鈥渁 good proposal.鈥�
鈥淭he City of Langford was outstanding to work with and put forward a competitive package. It came down to the inner workings of the different provincial governments,鈥� said Simpson, a former European pro player out of the Juan de Fuca youth association, who was capped 43 times for sa国际传媒.
The CPL said it was in 鈥渄eep discussions鈥� with Langford and Moncton.
鈥淟angford did a very good job 鈥� Mayor Stew Young is a force 鈥� but it just didn鈥檛 jell at the right time,鈥� Clanachan said. 鈥渟a国际传媒 was also going through the [Vancouver] NHL hub-city process at the time and the health protocols took longer. It just missed clicking for Langford. It was just one of those things. It was not meant to be.鈥�
Clanachan said players and team staff will self-quarantine in their home regions for 14 days before taking charter flights to Charlottetown. All CPL players, coaches and training staff have been tested for COVID-19 twice already and all tests were negative. 鈥淭hey will be tested again as they land and again in a five-day quarantine [in Charlottetown],鈥� Clanachan said.
The CPL players, coaches and staff will take over the Delta hotel on the Charlottetown waterfront.
鈥淲e are creating a bubble within the [Atlantic sa国际传媒] bubble. All our people will be together and can鈥檛 leave [except for games and practices]. They can鈥檛 interact with other people on the Island,鈥� Clanachan said. 鈥淭he plan is above and beyond. This will be one of the safest places to be. This is not something done on the back of an envelope. This has been planned over a few months. Our players support this. At the end of the day, they want to play soccer.鈥�
The CPL season was supposed to start in April. 鈥淧eople ask what took so long,鈥� Clanachan said. 鈥淥ur world has been turned upside down. We had to have the right safety measures and right protocols in place and that鈥檚 why.鈥�
PFC will fly to Charlottetown on Aug. 8.
