Sawt Falasteen - Draw marks 'starting gun' toward 2026 World Cup, Vancouver says

But once the event was over, "it felt like the starter's pistol went off," and the sprint to the tournament was underway, said Jessie Adcock, who is leading the hosting effort in Vancouver.

Unlike Toronto, the other Canadian host city, Vancouver has held an Olympic Games -- but the World Cup has never come to Canada.

Vancouver's seven matches will be played at a renovated BC Place, an unusual stadium among the 16 tournament venues, Adcock told AFP.

"It's one of the few urban stadiums in this World Cup," she said. "It's located in the heart of our downtown."

Homelessness and substance abuse are acute issues in Vancouver, particularly in the Downtown Eastside neighborhood near BC Place.

FIFA has strict "clean zone" rules surrounding World Cup venues and some have raised concern about forced displacements.

"We know that the city's FIFA contract requires the city to take steps to 'beautify' the city and the 'controlled area,'" Laura Macintyre, a lawyer and activist with Vancouver's Pivot Legal Society, told AFP.

"Street sweeps already happen nearly every day," she said, adding that Vancouver's commitments to FIFA offer "a convenient justification to ramp up and intensify the displacement."

Adcock said Vancouver is "absolutely not planning to displace any vulnerable populations," and will release "a human rights action plan" related to its FIFA obligations.

-'Gong show' -

BC Place also hosted the final performances of Taylor Swift's "Eras" tour.

Hotel prices jumped sixfold when Swift was in town in December 2024, which some experts say exposed Vancouver's persistent hotel room shortage -- an issue that has not been addressed.

Vancouver property developer Stanley Dee, who works with the tourism sector, told AFP he was concerned Vancouver's reputation would suffer if football fans can't find anywhere to stay.

"If it actually turns out to be a gong show, we may have difficulty attracting these kinds of events in the future," Dee said.

Adcock said increasing hotel stock is a priority for Vancouver and World Cup demand may be met by rooms posted on sites like Airbnb.

She also said the countries selected to play in Vancouver brought good news for tourism potential.

Outdoor-loving fans from Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland -- all sides slated for matches at BC Place -- may be "very, very excited" about the mountain tourism available near Vancouver, notably at Whistler, Adcock said.

- Hosting not 'intelligent' -

Vancouver's hosting effort is also not confronting significant budget uncertainty, having received firm commitments from British Columbia's provincial government.

But in Toronto, where the province and city are still haggling over money, some have already declared the decision to host as a mistake.

"I think there will be a lot of celebration," city council member Josh Matlow told AFP.

"That being said, was it an intelligent decision for the city to sign on (to hosting)?... I say no."

Matlow said key contracts, including for security, remained unsigned due to a lack of funding clarity.

"I don't know how many businesses, never mind families, that would take on such a cost burden without having any idea whether or not they could actually cover the costs," Matlow said.

"I don't want the city putting this on a credit card."

Gretzky's World Cup role may be over but the mocking coverage that followed his draw appearance marked another blow for the four-time Stanley Cup winner, who has been widely criticized in Canada over his reported closeness with US President Donald Trump.

"They're not all household names, I'll grant you," leading sports columnist Cathal Kelly wrote in the Globe and Mail, referring to the countries Gretzky bungled, which included North Macedonia and Curacao.

"But if I was going to be saying them out loud in front of up to a billion viewers, I might've taken the trouble to practice them. I guess our boy Wayne is more of an instinctive performer."

K.AbuDahab--SF-PST