There had been backlash after it was announced last summer that South Memorial Park on the city’s east side would be closed for upgrades for 18 months
In an apparent response to neighbourhood backlash, the FIFA World Cup 26 committee has moved a training site from a popular east Vancouver park to the University of B.C.
The City of Vancouver and FIFA announced Monday that the National Soccer Development Centre at UBC’s Point Grey campus will act as a team base camp and training facility for the upcoming World Cup to be jointly hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
The university, Vancouver Whitecaps and the city signed a letter of intent outlining the terms for FIFA Canada to potentially use the site so the Canadian men’s national team can stay and train at the UBC centre before matches and as a training site.
“This letter of intent marks an important step toward finalizing binding arrangements to make the state-of-the-art facility a hub to support the FIFA World Cup 2026 event,” said the City of Vancouver and FIFA in a joint statement.
The statement said using the UBC soccer centre “allows for the withdrawal of Memorial South Park from consideration as a training site.”
“Construction of the upgrades that were planned for Memorial South Park will no longer proceed, and the park will remain fully accessible to the community in its current condition leading up to, and during the FIFA World Cup 2026 event.”
FIFA requires all 16 host cities — two are in Canada, Vancouver and Toronto — to create “world class” fields as training sites for teams playing matches at B.C. Place downtown.
The other local site at Killarney Park has been under construction since earlier this year and those upgrades are expected to be complete by December. The site will remain closed to the public until the fall of 2026, said the city and FIFA in Monday’s statement.
“As a result of the work done to prepare for hosting training sessions, Killarney Park will remain upgraded to a grass sport field with lights, a drainage irrigation system and utilities which will enhance the park’s long-term usability,” it said.