Column: As Vancouver prepares to host part of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the city will look to avoid a repeat of the security problems at this month’s Copa America in the U.S.
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As off-field chaos erupted ahead of the Copa America soccer tournament’s final match Sunday night in Florida, a representative from B.C. Place was at the stadium as part of Vancouver’s preparations to co-host the world’s largest soccer event two years from now.
The bedlam in Miami — as well as other security problems and controversies earlier during the international men’s soccer tournament — provide a cautionary example for the North American cities, including Vancouver, hosting the much-larger FIFA 2026 World Cup.
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A member of Vancouver’s 2026 World Cup safety team was also in the U.S. for the Copa America, the city said, observing security systems while accompanied by FIFA representatives. Vancouver representatives also visited Copa America venues in California and Texas.
The B.C. Place representative was the only official member of the Vancouver team at Sunday’s gold medal final between Argentina and Colombia, where messy and sometimes frightening scenes at the stadium were captured in news reports and social media posts.
Fans were seen climbing over security railings and running past police officers and stadium staff. Others were seen hoisting each other into air ducts, in an apparent attempt to enter the stadium through its ventilation system. Some people, including children, were screaming, while others received medical treatment, the Associated Press reported. The New York Times described it as a “near-disaster that overshadowed the spectacle of the game.”
Argentine journalist Veronica Brunati told The Buenos Aires Herald: “It was a miracle that no one died. … I have traveled the world covering the Argentine national team for over 20 years and I have never seen anything like this.”
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“The City of Vancouver has been paying attention to the security matters at Copa America,” the city said in an emailed statement. “Safety and security is a very important part of Vancouver’s event delivery” for the World Cup.
The City of Vancouver, Vancouver Police Department, and the B.C. government are jointly leading what they call an “integrated safety and security unit” preparing for the 2026 World Cup, which will see Vancouver host seven matches, one of 16 host cities spread across Canada, the U.S., and Mexico.
The Vancouver Police Department did not reply before deadline to questions about the Copa America and how many VPD members travelled to the U.S. for the tournament.
The police department’s organizational chart lists a superintendent and two inspectors as members of the FIFA 2026 integrated safety and security unit.
But despite the problems at this year’s Copa America, some observers say they do not expect anything similar in Vancouver in 2026.
One major reason they pointed to is the organizers. Much blame for the Copa America’s problems has fallen at the feet of Conmebol, the South American Football Confederation that organizes the Copa America.
Even before the tournament, Canada coach Jesse Marsch’s conversations with Conmebol organizers gave him concerns about potential off-field problems, he told The Canadian Press, adding: “At one point I said, ‘You guys don’t know what you’re talking about.’”
Marsch said he believes the organization of the 2026 World Cup, which is handled by soccer’s global governing body FIFA, will be “very different.”
FIFA’s “overall experience for running tournaments, I think, is at a much different level” from the South American confederation, Marsch said. “I think, especially here in Canada, that this will be run very professionally, very cleanly. And it will be great.”
FIFA has drawn plenty of controversy in recent years, including human-rights criticisms and a major corruption scandal that produced criminal charges.
But the organization also has a track record of ensuring the execution of its largest event goes smoothly, said University of B.C. associate professor Tsur Somerville.
“FIFA has a reputation for making a lot of demands that cost a lot of money, but then executing these things well,” Somerville said Monday. “You don’t hear about these kinds of problems with World Cups with FIFA, even though they have been in a whole bunch of different places all around the world.”
In April, the B.C. government released new figures estimating the public cost of hosting part of the World Cup in Vancouver could exceed half a billion dollars — more than double previous estimates from two years earlier.
Typically, “security is the biggest single line item” for these kinds of major international events, said James Brander, a professor of economics from the UBC Sauder School of Business. But he predicts that local authorities will be “serious about security” and does not expect problems here similar to the Copa America.
For one thing, Vancouver is only hosting preliminary round games, Brander pointed out, which tend to be less intense affairs than championship round action.
“There will be some economic benefits” to hosting the World Cup, Brander said, “but I doubt that the economic benefits will justify the costs. What might justify the costs is the enjoyment people get out of it.”
“Personally, I intend to enjoy it,” he said. “I think there will be a lot of good feelings generated. I hope people enjoy it, and I hope it’s worthwhile.”
With files from The Canadian Press and Associated Press
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