Canada Soccer achieved a Greater Goal both on and off the pitch in 2015, with a positive financial outlook including a $2.9-million surplus reported for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™ at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the Members in Saskatoon on 7 May. The surplus will allow Canada Soccer to take the sport to even greater heights on the national sporting landscape in the years to come.
“It is critical for Canada Soccer to harness the momentum generated by the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™,” said Canada Soccer President Victor Montagliani. “New training infrastructure, the alignment of the National Teams programming, and physical literacy programming represent part of the tournament’s legacy. There is also an emotional legacy left by the tournament that has Canadians excited about the game like never before that we must leverage going forward.”
The FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™ supported an economic impact of $493.6-million industry output and was watched by 750 million worldwide viewers, including 20.8 million in Canada. The 52-match finals drew a record 1.35-million spectators, now the highest attended FIFA event outside the men’s FIFA World Cup™. An important legacy of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014 and FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™ was the investment of more than $6-million in soccer infrastructure in Canada, with more than 21 FIFA Quality PRO pitches either built or upgraded.
From coast to coast, Canadians got behind the world’s game and showed their support by making soccer matches the top-seven attended in-stadia sporting events in Canada in 2015. Last year’s Canada-England quarter-final match at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™ was the highest attendance for a national team event of any sport ever held in Canada, broken again in 2016 with another Canada Soccer match, this time 54,798 spectators at the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers match on 25 March.
Benchmarks from the past year were published in Canada Soccer’s 2015 Annual Report (To a Greater Goal) which highlights Canada Soccer’s strong technical leadership, national team success, continued growth and governance of the game, and the solid financial legacy resulting from hosting the record-setting FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™.
At the midway mark of the 2014-18 Strategic Plan – A Leading Soccer Nation, Canada Soccer is ensuring the organisation is on track and aligned with respect to the implementation and execution of the sport’s strategic objectives. The four established priorities are:
\u200b1. Invest in Technical Leadership
\u200b2. Ensure Consistent, World-Class Performances
\u200b3. Encourage and Oversee the Growth of the Game
\u200b4. Govern the Game in Canada Professionally in Collaboration with our Partners
“Thanks to the tremendous success of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™, Canada is now seen as a leader among FIFA member associations,” said Peter Montopoli, General Secretary, Canada Soccer. “Our organisation is stronger and more respected than it has ever been. With the Men’s National Team on the road to the 2018 FIFA World Cup™ Russia and the Women’s National Team set to take on the world’s best at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, 2016 promises to be another exciting year.”
The future is brighter than ever before for our players, coaches, administrators, and the entire soccer community, who share a passion for the world’s game.