Co-hosting the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup would “mend our fences” broken when Halifax dropped the Commonwealth Games bid, says Coun. Sue Uteck.
Yesterday, Grant MacDonald with Events Nova Scotia recommended Halifax regional council drop its bid for the women’s soccer event because of tight deadlines.
It was unintentional, but it worked like reverse psychology.
“We can’t afford to lose this,” said Coun. Darren Fisher, who moved to go ahead with the bid and expedite the process. Council approved his motion.
There are eight countries who have shown interest in hosting. If Canada wins the bid in March, the Canadian Soccer Association will have a year to pick six cities.
Each city will host a pool — seven games and 10 competition days.
“It’s basically darned good odds,” said Fisher. “We have a crack at this.”
But other councillors were worried about tight budget and timing constraints. Cities must pay a $25,000 bid support fee by Dec. 24 and Halifax would need to commit to a 20,000-seat stadium as the bid progresses.
