Check that! Spruce Meadows' bid to host World Cup base camp 'accepted' by FIFA

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They came.

They saw.

And they nodded in approval.

All in all, it was a positive few visits by the FIFA folks to Spruce Meadows, which hopes to secure host status of a participating country’s base camp ahead of the 2026 World Cup of Soccer.

“It isn’t a secret that Spruce Meadows has looked at being a FIFA 2026 base-camp candidate and has gone through the exercise of understanding the criteria and submitting our menu,” said Ian Allison, the president/COO of Cavalry FC and senior vice-president of Spruce Meadows.

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“It was accepted,” continued Allison. “And then we’ve had a couple of visits now from FIFA to come and see if our story is the same as our visuals and the experience.”

Indeed, it’s been the dream of ownership since the 2018 inception of Cavalry — which returns to action in the Canadian Premier League on Saturday against nemesis Forge FC in Hamilton (5 p.m., OneSoccer, OneSoccer.ca) — to bring a World Cup experience of some sort to Calgary.

Attracting a country to come prepare for the 2026 edition of the grand sports event would check that box.

But first Allison and Spruce Meadows have to get a few of their own boxes checked in satisfying the global soccer body’s search to house 45 representative squads — not including host sides Canada, Mexico and the United States — in the weeks leading up to the high-profile tournament.

“They loved the pitch, they loved the grass, and they love the fact that we can isolate it as a private property and not a public space,” said Allison, of feedback from a handful of FIFA dignitaries during two separate summer visits to the world-class show-jumping — and footie — facility on the southeast outskirts of the city.

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“There are some things that that we would need to work towards,” Allison said. “But as we look to make the cut into the final brochure, we’re reasonably encouraged about how it went.”

The most notable of possible upgrades needed to satisfy FIFA’s criteria is the inclusion of a sub-surface irrigation system under ATCO Field.

“We don’t have sub-surface irrigation, and that’s kind of a requirement,” Allison said. “And we’ve done that by choice. Because of the horse sports, we’ve always had perimeter irrigation so there’s no sprinkler heads out on the pitch. We find that to be for the safety of the athlete, whether they are equine or homosapien.

“But evidently, it’s a thing, because a World Cup coach could say, ‘I want this five metre-by-five metre patch of grass sprinkled with water right now.’ And FIFA doesn’t feel you can do that with the water trucks and other technology we have here now.”

The feeling is the list of upgrades beyond that might not be long, although at last check, FIFA was feeling out the quality of hotels at hand.

“There’s always going to be give or take,” Allison said. “I think that depends how the report comes back and then how FIFA manages it. You’ve got the wifi infrastructure that they require. You’ve got the sports science facility, you’ve got the locker rooms, you’ve got the training facilities, you’ve got the gym, you’ve got family facilities …”

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And plenty more to offer — with its privacy and grass pitch, the city’s reasonable climate during the May-June 2026 base-camp timeframe and high altitude for advanced training and the multitude of air corridors connecting the Calgary International Airport with World Cup host locations across North America.

Of course, the staff of Spruce Meadows boasts decades-long experience of hosting major international events, as well, highlighted by the ability to move athletes — and the operations staff that come with them — in and out of the city and to the facility.

Plus Spruce Meadows are strong and long in dealing with logistics and an international customer base, including its long-term working relationship with the airport authority and Canadian Border Services.

“It may be swinging for the fences a little bit,” said Allison, of becoming a possible base-camp host. “But we’ve been culturalized by Linda, Nancy, Marg and Ron Southern that you have to have something to swing for.”

To that end, Spruce Meadows is now through both the submission and acceptance aspects of the process.

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And to Allison’s knowledge, Spruce Meadows is the only Canadian candidate in the mix for a base camp.

“We’re reasonably encouraged that we can move it to the next level,” added Allison. “And there may be as many as a dozen nations that may look for Spruce Meadows to be their base camp in the spring of 2026.

“If that’s the case, it would be a real interesting new chapter in the history of this venue and something that could provide legacy and inspiration to the club as FIFA 2026 gets closer.”

FREE KICKS

Cavalry (8W-10D-3L) heads into Saturday’s affair in the CPL’s third-place position — on 34 points, four back of top-spot Forge (11-5-5) … The season series is 1-1-1 … After an unbeaten month of August for Cavalry, Tommy Wheeldon Jr. was named the CPL Manager of the Month and defender Daan Klomp was named the league’s player of the month … Cavalry defender Eryk Kobza is a game-time decision for Saturday, while midfielder Maël Henry (thigh) has been ruled out for 2-3 months, forward Malcolm Shaw (knee) is sidelined for a few weeks and forward Toby Warschewski (leg) and midfielder Charlie Trafford (hamstring) are both a week or two away from returning to the active roster … The Cavs signed James McGlinchey, Josh Belbin, and Neven Fewster from the Cavalry FC U21 side to development contracts. McGlinchey is a midfielder who has spent his youth playing for Calgary Foothills FC, Belbin is a midfielder who has played for Sherwood Park and Edmonton Juventus youth sides, and Fewster is a goalkeeper who has come through the Calgary Rangers youth system.

tsaelhof@postmedia.com

http://www.x.com/ToddSaelhofPM

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