Jack inspects Canada venues

Warner, chairman of the Organising Committee for the FIFA Under-20 World Championship along with Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) president Andy Sharpe officially closed FIFA’s nine-day venue inspection tour by unveiling the official emblem at a media conference in Toronto on Wednesday.

But apart from that, Warner was taken on a tour of Montreal on Tuesday during which he visited to historical Olympic Stadium and was shown a plaque with the names of high achievers including the name of TT’s only Olympic gold medalist Hasely Crawford.

He also signed the Golden Book at the City Hall in the presence of the Vice-Chairman of the Executive Committee, City Councillor Madame. Francine Senecal.

“What a historic day that was for me to be able to see a son of Trinidad and Tobago soil recognised here,” Warner said.

During his visits Warner also had some words of advice for Edmonton which drew 47,484 fans to the Commonwealth Stadium in 2002 for the Canada-US final at the inaugural FIFA women’s Under-19 championship, winning good reviews from FIFA and others.

But for the men’s Under-20 tournament next year, Canadian organisers have opted to stage the July 22 final at Toronto’s National Soccer Stadium. The venue, currently under construction, will hold no more than 25,000.

Edmonton will still play a large role as tournament co-host, but will see its participation end at the semi-final stage.

Warner said Toronto was “the logical choice” to host the final because of their new stadium, the diversity of the population and the co-operation of local governments.

Edmonton will host two of Canada’s first-round matches,- the Canadian men’s opening outing will be in Toronto plus two round-of-16 fixturess, a quarter-final and semi-final.

Warner is a top FIFA official who is also the president of CONCACAF, the North and Central American and the Caribbean football organisation.

He is also president of the Caribbean Football Union.

Warner and other officials have spent the last nine days touring Edmonton, Toronto and the tournament’s four other venues: Victoria, Burnaby (Vancouver), Ottawa and Montreal.

Warner and Canadian football officials said the inspection process turned up some issues to be fixed, but nothing insurmountable.

“They are critical, they are important, but in the overall scheme of things they are not mind-boggling,” Warner said.

“This inspection is just one step in the process of evaluating and finalising the stadiums and infrastructure needed for the competition, but I must say I am very pleased with the professionalism and organisation the FIFA delegation has seen over the course of the last week and a half,” he added.

With Montreal Impact boss Joey Saputo putting his planned new Montreal Stadium on the backburner, the Montreal site remains a question mark. Everyone involved wants to go to Molson Stadium on the McGill University grounds, but the artificial turf there has lines on it and FIFA demand a pristine green surface.

The City of Ottawa, meanwhile, has pledged to replace the artificial turf at Frank Clair Stadium with a higher-grade surface at a cost of CAN$440,000.

Warner raved about Victoria, saying there were two places in the world he would consider retiring to with Victoria No 1 on that list.

He also praised Ottawa, saying it was the best venue on the tour while marvelling you can sit in the stands and see boats sailing along the Rideau Canal.

FIFA officials will be back in October to inspect the progress.