CANCELLED WC Prep Match #1: Canada vs Iran - Sunday, June 5 BC Place, Vancouver

[Gian-Luca]

Not sure if this has been posted yet but Ukraine diplomats are offering their team as a replacement (although they would have to lose to Scotland first):

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-soccer-cancels-iran-game-1.6466438?fbclid=IwAR2aWoPY_iFy_x1avMZxaJRlM__wy7ERQaNnq2gFSOtj1L4z78NnX-AAxD0

[Approve My Account Pls]

What's cracking me up are the Twitter accounts that clearly don't follow soccer at all still tweeting with rage that the game is taking place...

[InglewoodJack]

2 minutes ago, RS said:

"All my homies hate the west."

Even my hot blond girlfriend who goes to another school you’ve never met her but she’s super hot 

[Greatest Cockney Rip Off]

24 minutes ago, Pasha said:

https://angusreid.org/trudeau-tracker/

Yeah its quite clear his popularity is soaring; my mistake😂

 

So a straw poll is more accurate than a national election?

[Gian-Luca]

1 minute ago, Yoginess said:

Well it looks like refunds will be issued so there is no replacement game immediately in place. 

Even if there is, I think they have to issue refunds. All the Iranian-Canadians who bought tickets for the game would probably want a refund even if the CSA announced, say,  Cuba as a replacement

[theaub]

3 minutes ago, Gian-Luca said:

Not sure if this has been posted yet but Ukraine diplomats are offering their team as a replacement (although they would have to lose to Scotland first):

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-soccer-cancels-iran-game-1.6466438?fbclid=IwAR2aWoPY_iFy_x1avMZxaJRlM__wy7ERQaNnq2gFSOtj1L4z78NnX-AAxD0

Truly one of the lowest effort tweets I've seen

- Even if they lose to Scotland they have another friendly in Europe on June 9 so they'll need to make two cross contintental flights in a week

- Iran is ranked higher than Ukraine

- That $400K is long gone 

[Free kick]

35 minutes ago, Gian-Luca said:

Just like the last time I mentioned this, the divisiveness I was referring to was never predicated upon party political lines, so that's a red herring. There was clearly a controversy, just because it didn't get divided on the basis or through the lens of the party political spectrum (which thankfully, not everyone in the world adheres to) doesn't negate this. Even in the fallout of the decision to cancel I am seeing tons of people clashing on social media, so the controversy hasn't ended.

Initially,  I thought that this posturing by the politicians was just that, posturing for the purposes gaining public favour or popularity.   And, I only saw Iran as team that will be at WC, a team that finished first in the Asian qualifying, and is a top 30 ranked nation.   These are things that matter to soccer fans.   Hence politics should have nothing to do with what best for MNT and soccer in Canada

Then as I started reading more and more from people who lost close ones in the plane tragedy, and comments about how this could be played by the Iranian government, and I realized that it not just about soccer nor should it ever be.   We are not just playing the Iranian soccer team in a friendly, we are also playing Iran (the country) in friendly.  And when I look at it that, then I realised the exact words used by the PM were appropriate and and correctly measured.   It was a bad idea by the CSA but they corrected the problem so no issues there as far as i am concerned   But the criticism for being behind the eight ball in lining up friendlies, still stand.  

Edited May 26, 2022 by Free kick

[Metro]

1 hour ago, Gian-Luca said:

Absolutely. This is a horrible precedent to be setting, and if the government denied Iran Visas or pressured the CSA to cancel the game, FIFA might even see that as government interference in soccer, which could lead to the national team being suspended, never mind hosting.

Based on what we know so far, I don't blame the CSA (except maybe for caving in to the pressure), I don't buy the "this was foreseeable" argument since the controversy only started 5 days after the match was announced and nearly sold out when Trudeau spoke the way he did, that's when the media shit storm started. And he was under no obligation to shit upon the idea without giving reasons and throwing the CSA under the bus in the process.

We'll see what further info comes to light, but that's how it looks at the moment. Utter madness and a very sad day, with Canadian soccer on the losing end.

 

Thank you for this.  Couldn't have written it better myself.

From what we know (which I admit is not much), if the CSA suffer monetary damages over this, it is very possible they would have a valid, legal claim against the Government.

[nfitz]

Just now, Metro said:

Thank you for this.  Couldn't have written it better myself.

From what we know (which I admit is not much), if the CSA suffer monetary damages over this, it is very possible they would have a valid, legal claim against the Government.

If CSA has a valid, legal claim against the Government, then it's admitting there was political interference and Canada gets banned from international soccer for a period of time. Goodbye 2022 and 2026 World Cup.

[Ally McCoist]

I'm wondering if part of their decision was some sort of security threat? Nothing major but more so like a risk of the crowd getting out of hand or too many political posters and what not.  

I'm pissed off though. Fuck the CBC. And the CSA is as incompetent now as they were in our dark days.

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

That familar feeling of having a busy couple of days and coming back to Canadian soccer news and there being a toasty dumpster fire waiting for you.   

[narduch]

Bustos has the solution 

 

[Califax]

7 minutes ago, theaub said:

 

- That $400K is long gone 

 

[Obinna]

1 hour ago, RS said:

Because his comments weren't divisive. 

He answered a question. His answer didn't "divide" anybody, in fact there is far more unity across the political spectrum on this issue than many others in recent times. There are tweets and articles upthread that show conservative politicians expressing the same sentiment.

I still think the game should have gone on, by the way. 

I wouldn't assume self-serving statements from political leaders accurately reflect the opinions of the people. All you are pointing out is that leaders of political parties are unified.

Case in point:

The leaders of our political parties unanimously think the game shouldn't be played, but there is a divide on whether the game should be played. We even see it right here in this thread. I would say though, soccer fans putting sport above politics want the game played, while those focused on the politics and/or damage the incident caused do not. 

Doesn't really match the consensus of our "political" leaders, does it?

Edited May 26, 2022 by Obinna

[Approve My Account Pls]

1 minute ago, narduch said:

Bustos has the solution 

 

Honestly at this point set up a round robin tournament: CanMNT, CanM20, CPL All-Stars, MLS "Other Canadians"

[canuckgbp]

8 minutes ago, Free kick said:

Initially,  I thought that this posturing by the politicians was just that, posturing for the purposes gaining public favour or popularity.   And, I only saw Iran as team that will be at WC, a team that finished first in the Asian qualifying, and is a top 30 ranked nation.   These are things that matter to soccer fans.   Hence politics should have nothing to do with what best for MNT and soccer in Canada

Then as I started reading more and more from people who lost close ones in the plane tragedy, and comments about how this could be played by the Iranian government, and I realized that it not just about soccer nor should it ever be.   We are not just playing the Iranian soccer team in a friendly, we are also playing Iran (the country) in friendly.  And when I look at it that, then I realised the exact words used by the PM were appropriate and and correctly measured.   It was a bad idea by the CSA but they corrected the problem so no issues there as far as i am concerned   But the criticism for being behind the eight ball in lining up friendlies, still stand.  

Aren't the initial reports saying the CBSA isn't allowing the Iranian players in? From what I can gather, the CSA was trying to still make this happen and the CBSA pulled the plug? 

[Unnamed Trialist]

There are many alternatives to playing Iran. Even at this late date. 

For example, there are some nations without friendlies this window who could still be free. 

There are also clubs. MLS, Liga MX, you could even canvas club teams in South America as the FIFA break means they don't have league matches. 

You could invite Vissel Kobe, owned by the Rakuten CEO, with Iniesta (and Bojan). And even though it is a weaker J-League team fans would feel it was a good trade-off. They have a cup match on the 1st then are off until the 18th.

You could invite a Ukraine club team and they'd play their guts out. I see Dinamo Kiev has played friendlies in the past weeks vs. Dortmund, Zagreb and Basel. A very good team even with the young players, talented and competitive. As their league is cancelled they'd be free. 

The fact that they just cancel without an alternative, and without being minimally creative, makes the decision even more incompetent. 

[Free kick]

2 minutes ago, nfitz said:

If CSA has a valid, legal claim against the Government, then it's admitting there was political interference and Canada gets banned from international soccer for a period of time. Goodbye 2022 and 2026 World Cup.

I dont think that they have a claim,  the government didnt cancel this freindly,  the CSA did.   The government just expressed an opinion.  

Plus, not everything has to be settled in a legal manner.  you could settle in an informal manner.

[Approve My Account Pls]

Re: All the politicians...

Guys its simple, these politicians did not give a flying fuck and 95% of them probably haven't watched a Canada Soccer game. Trudeau was put on the spot with that initial interview comment and took the easy way out. For everyone else from every party or municipality, they saw the public backlash and jumped in to collect their easy brownie points and free votes from the public for re-election

Once the cat was out of the bag, there was no stopping the firestorm

Edited May 26, 2022 by Approve My Account Pls

[Obinna]

1 minute ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

There are many alternatives to playing Iran. Even at this late date. 

For example, there are some nations without friendlies this window who could still be free. 

There are also clubs. MLS, Liga MX, you could even canvas club teams in South America as the FIFA break means they don't have league matches. 

You could invite Vissel Kobe, owned by the Rakuten CEO, with Iniesta (and Bojan). And even though it is a weaker J-League team fans would feel it was a good trade-off. They have a cup match on the 1st then are off until the 18th.

You could invite a Ukraine club team and they'd play their guts out. I see Dinamo Kiev has played friendlies in the past weeks vs. Dortmund, Zagreb and Basel. A very good team even with the young players, talented and competitive. As their league is cancelled they'd be free. 

The fact that they just cancel without an alternative, and without being minimally creative, makes the decision even more incompetent. 

People would eat up anything involving Ukraine at this point. Certainly in Vancouver. 

Dinamo Kiev are probably a sufficient opponent in terms of talent.

But man, I wouldn't want to see that as someone who wants the politics separated from sport. It would be a bummer to play a club, that's so lame, but if we are forced I would rather us play the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Cavallini can stay White and Blue for that one

[Obinna]

2 minutes ago, Approve My Account Pls said:

Re: All the politicians...

Guys its simple, these politicians did not give a flying fuck and 95% of them probably haven't watched a Canada Soccer game. Trudeau was put on the spot with that initial interview comment and took the easy way out. For everyone else from every party or municipality, they saw the public backlash and jumped in to collect their easy brownie points and free votes from the public for re-election

Once the cat was out of the bag, there was no stopping the firestorm

Nope, you are wrong. CSA's fault 100%. Don't @ me bro.

[Unnamed Trialist]

27 minutes ago, Yoginess said:

What if Iran is just going around scheduling friendlies, getting their 400k then starting a smear campaign against themselves so they can schedule another one!

Funny. 

But folks are wrong to say they have already been paid, they have not. They might have received an advance but not payment in full.

It is a contract, it has clauses that might allow cancellation under certain conditions (including security, visas), and requiring certain conditions to be met. They have not travelled yet and have not incurred costs, so would not be able to claim losses. 

To think that Canada has to pay the full amount because we cancelled is simply untrue. This also explains, in part, why the announcement by the CSA makes no mention of the reasons for the cancellation, so as to not expose themselves legally.

[BigMo]

26 minutes ago, Gian-Luca said:

Not sure if this has been posted yet but Ukraine diplomats are offering their team as a replacement (although they would have to lose to Scotland first):

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-soccer-cancels-iran-game-1.6466438?fbclid=IwAR2aWoPY_iFy_x1avMZxaJRlM__wy7ERQaNnq2gFSOtj1L4z78NnX-AAxD0

Im skeptical the diplomat ran this by their federation. Seems highly unlikely they'd take on an unplanned friendly five days after their playoff with Scotland. But who knows. 

[El Hombre]

11 minutes ago, Ally McCoist said:

I'm wondering if part of their decision was some sort of security threat? Nothing major but more so like a risk of the crowd getting out of hand or too many political posters and what not.  

I'm pissed off though. Fuck the CBC. And the CSA is as incompetent now as they were in our dark days.

Yeah, well, bad news son, they now have a new security threat on their hands: ME!

*cracks knuckles*

*sprains wrist*

*put on carpal-tunnel braces*

*lies down out of breath*

[nfitz]

4 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

It is a contract, it has clauses that might allow cancellation under certain conditions (including security, visas), and requiring certain conditions to be met. They have not travelled yet and have not incurred costs, so would not be able to claim losses. 

They must be buying tickets from a different airline than I am! I'm sure there are incurred costs already. Not to mention opportunity costs.

 

4 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

To think that Canada has to pay the full amount because we cancelled is simply untrue.

I'd have assumed that some of the $400K would already have been paid. But I'm guessing.