Exclusive: Documents bring FIFA World Cup 26 road closures into focus

Bob Mackin

Internal planning documents about Vancouver co-hosting FIFA World Cup matches next June and July shed light on significant road closures near B.C. Place Stadium that will affect tens of thousands of downtown workers and residents and at least hundreds of businesses.

“When and where required, public access shall be restricted and specific traffic lanes and escorts shall be deployed to ensure efficient mobility of specific constituent groups,” said a handbook for FIFA bid cities, included in files released to theBreaker.news after a three-year freedom of information battle with Vancouver city hall. “Road closures and traffic diversions shall be implemented where necessary to assist vehicle and pedestrian flow.”

A CSA contractor’s rendering of a 2026 World Cup live site outside B.C. Place Stadium (BaAM Productions/City of Vancouver)

Roadblocks beginning early May 2026. Possibly sooner

A Feb. 28, 2022 email from Taunya Geelhoed, now the operations lead for city hall’s FIFA secretariat, to Desiree Gatten, the acting branch manager for film and special events, said they were working under the assumption that Expo Boulevard would be closed for the entire period that FIFA is using B.C. Place Stadium — 30 days before the first match until a week after the last.

Additionally, Pacific Boulevard would be closed on each match day and the day prior.

When FIFA chose Vancouver in 2022, officials hoped to attract as many as five matches, which would have meant 10 days of additional closures. In 2023, FIFA decided to expand the tournament to 104 matches, two dozen more than planned. Vancouver will host seven matches from June 13-July 7, 2026. That means 14 days of closures on Pacific Boulevard and beyond.

“We are actively working through traffic management planning and will share more details as they become available,” said a prepared statement sent by Natasha Qereshniku, the secretariat’s communications lead.

A chart in FIFA’s 2026 Hosting Requirements, obtained by theBreaker.news, shows four zones that must be erected around each host stadium, including inner and outer stadium perimeters surrounded by fences 2.5 metres in height “that shall not be easy to scale, penetrate, pull down or remove.”

The severity of fences and barriers and sophistication of venue overlay will remind Vancouverites of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

No go to casino

Additionally, the 2022 documents say the Canadian Soccer Association was “working through Concord and J.W. Marriott third-party use agreements as both areas are within the outer security perimeter/stadium footprint.” Marriott operates the two hotels at Parq casino beside Concord’s One Pacific condo towers on B.C. Place’s west side.

“Concord Pacific and J.W. Marriott are key partners, and their operational needs and integration opportunities are being addressed as part of the stadium planning process,” said Qereshniku’s statement.

In 2022, CSA’s “BC Place Neighbourhood Campus” envisioned using three of Concord’s parking lots: lot 038 Rogers Arena East, lot 039 Rogers Arena South and lot 098 Concord Pacific Place North.

Lot 039 would be used from March 1-July 31, 2026, with an entry plaza, airport-style security machines and hospitality pavilions during the tournament period. Lot 038 would host a spectator plaza and lot 098 match-day parking for FIFA pass holders.

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Bob Mackin Internal planning documents about Vancouver co-hosting