November 28 – With the countdown to June 13, 2026, now under 200 days, Vancouver is racing to reshape parts of its city to satisfy FIFA’s stringent demands for security and “brand protection”.
On paper, it’s black and white, and ticking boxes, but when put into practice, it raises the same question every World Cup host eventually asks when the bottom line stares them in the face…is any of this actually worth it?
The latest twist for Vancouverites is a proposed bylaw overhaul aimed at keeping FIFA happy. It’s part of a wider wave of changes already hitting the city, thanks to edicts from Zurich. Ballooning project costs, BC Lions being displaced from BC Place, while FIFA sponsors, Airbnb, are for looser rules to handle the expected tourist surge.
Councillors were briefed last week on what will be banned in the two-kilometre “beautification zone” surrounding BC Place, covering most of the downtown core, parts of the Downtown Eastside, False Creek’s south shore, and Granville Island.
Graffiti will be targeted, and any unofficial marketing linked to the tournament will be shut down aggressively.
“We need to have these rules in place to make sure we don’t have that graffiti on the worldwide stage with billions of people literally watching,” deputy city manager Karen Levitt said.
Some councillors pushed back, worried that small businesses would be hit by restrictions on posters and advertising, and that shops would be forced to clean graffiti within 24 hours at their own expense. Others fear that vulnerable residents could be pushed aside, though Levitt insisted that “there would be no effort to remove people who are experiencing homelessness.”
The city stresses this is about FIFA’s fortress-like approach to commercial control. “Our enforcement measures are really around brand protection,” said Gurv Brar, who oversees corporate services in the licensing department.
The legal agreement with FIFA runs 239 pages and dedicates an entire section to preventing “ambush marketing activities,” yet Vancouver’s agreement hides how much FIFA will actually pay to use BC Place.
Meanwhile, the city is dealing with road closures, extended noise exemptions, and months-long no-go zones. The Fan Festival amphitheatre upgrade at the PNE, originally estimated to cost $65 million, has risen to $183-million.
The BC Lions are being forced to move two games to Kelowna and the world-famous Dragon Boat Festival, cancelled due to FIFA’s exclusion period.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1764333972labto1764333972ofdlr1764333972owedi1764333972sni@r1764333972etsbe1764333972w.kci1764333972n1764333972
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