Community groups have planned “multiple events” across Vancouver on Thursday to coincide with the Fifa Congress being held in the city ahead of this summer’s World Cup.
Multiple organizations will collaborate to “interrupt the narrative that the World Cup is a celebration”, according to local organizers, with a focus on the impact the Congress and tournament will have on the city – as well as a call from at least one group to expel Israel from Fifa competition.
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The Congress, being held at the downtown Vancouver Convention Centre on Thursday, is expected to include representatives from all 211 of Fifa’s member associations, apart from the Iranian delegation, who were denied entry to Canada on Tuesday night.
“We are really trying to interrupt the feeling of this Congress and World Cup just being a celebration in the city,” said Chantelle Spicer, a co-director of the BC Poverty Reduction Coalition, a grassroots Vancouver community group. “We are interrupting the celebratory narrative with the real impact that it is having on people, on workers, on tenants, and residents around this city.”
Spicer added: “Our voices don’t just matter now. They matter in terms of the long-term impact of what being a [World Cup] host city means. There are a lot of government and Fifa officials who have a lot to say about the benefits and positive impact of Fifa while ignoring regular people trying to go about their day and trying to build a better life in Vancouver.”
Vancouver will host seven World Cup games in June and July, starting with Australia v Turkey on 13 June followed by Canada playing Qatar five days later. The city will also host a round of 16 game on 7 July.
Unlike World Cup stadiums in the United States, which are often located at great distances outside host cities, Vancouver’s BC Place venue is in the city’s downtown. Community groups are concerned about how the World Cup will affect the downtown population.
“The Downtown Eastside is so close to BC Place and clearly within a 2km radius of increased bylaws, and increased police presence, on top of an increased housing crisis,” she said. “For people who rely on these public spaces there are going to be additional pressures with tourism and the World Cup head to head with each other in a way that is unique in this city.
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“Being host to the World Cup is going to impact residents across Vancouver. [This includes] tenants throughout the city who are already facing a crisis of housing affordability and unfair evictions and people not being able to access transit, and pressures on the healthcare system with so many more visitors coming to the city. This is a citywide issue.”
Vancouver initially declined to be a World Cup host city, with British Columbia government officials citing unpredictable costs and unreasonable proposed agreements with Fifa over stadium use. Vancouver was reinstated as a host city in 2022 when Montreal withdrew, citing similar concerns over costs and restrictive agreements.
Victor Montagliani, a Vancouver native, serves as the president of Concacaf (the regional confederation for North America, Central America and the Caribbean) in addition to vice president of the Fifa council. Last year, Vancouver mayor Ken Sim proclaimed 12 September Victor Montagliani Day in the city.
“Vancouver as a host city handed over control to Fifa as an organization,” Spicer said. “This has led to the cancellation of numerous historical regular community events that we look forward to. We are recognizing that this doesn’t just matter now while Vancouver is playing host to the World Cup but recognizing the impact that this has going forward from the World Cup as well.”
The Fifa Congress is closed to the public and has seen thelargest police deployment in the city’s history as well as sightings of individuals using private security details. Vancouver police rejected a request for Fifa president Gianni Infantino to receive “level four” motorcade rights during his time in the city – a level below the Pope but at the same level as the president of the United States. The status allows a motorcade to close roads and ignore traffic signals.
