As the FIFA World Cup approaches, questions remain about Toronto’s readiness. Is the city prepared to host the beautiful game, or will it be a hot mess?
Victor Montagliani, Canada’s FIFA vice president, says the organization is confident the city will be ready when Canada plays its first game on June 12 and that includes its transit plan, which has seen its share of recent struggles from winter storms to the World Series.
“Everything is on schedule,” says Montagliani.
“I think, maybe because we’re in June and they’ve had a few runs, they had a great World Series here, and there was some issues there as well. I think those will benefit us, those learning curves, with respect to any transportation infrastructure or anything like that. I’m sure that we’ll be ready and the city will be ready once we get there.”
Hundreds of thousands of fans from all over the world will converge in cities across North America later this year for the tournament, but U.S. President Donald Trump’s travel restrictions remain a concern for many. Montagliani assures CityNews that all players will be able to compete in the tournament, but fans will be subject to each host country’s rules.
“We’ve always said that buying a ticket doesn’t guarantee you entry to the country. You have to ensure that you can come in,” he says.
“We have facilitated other events, even with respect to CONCACAF, we have issues when it comes to our Gold Cup, for instance, when Cuba qualifies. We work through the State Department or the equivalent of the State Department for Canada and Mexico to ensure that, obviously, people are able to come in. If there’s reasons they can’t come in, those have nothing to do with the organizers of any event, whether it be a World Cup or the Olympics, those are within the purview of a country.”
Canada is scheduled to play its first game on June 12 at BMO Field, which will be dubbed Toronto Stadium during the World Cup, however, their opponent remains a mystery. Canada’s other group stage games will be played in Vancouver, B.C.
