Episode
Uncovering FIFA’s costly World Cup demands on Canadian cities
- Podcast
- The Decibel
- Published
- May 29, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1505
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://www.theglobeandmail.com/podcasts/the-decibel/
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Summary
Vancouver and Toronto are getting ready to host FIFA World Cup matches in June and July, and the demands FIFA makes tend to be costly. Requirements from FIFA go from stadium renovations to branding enforcement, transportation and even tax exemptions. All three levels of government have already spent hundreds of millions of dollars in preparation. Contracts between FIFA and host cities aren’t usually public, but Greg Mercer, The Globe’s investigative reporter, managed to get access to them. He’s on the show to explain what he learned and how FIFA manages to make all these expensive and exorbitant demands on host cities. Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at [email protected]