Spurred By Sportexe and Soccermania, Ottawa Mayor to Build 100 Fields

November 8th, 2006

Ottawa, Canada. November 8, 2006 - Just one day before FIFA certified Frank Clair Stadium at Landsdowne Park in Ottawa the only FIFA recommended 2-Star field in North America, Ottawa Mayor Bob Chiarelli announced on Oct. 24 a bold plan to construct 100 new soccer fields during the next four years as a legacy project of the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in 2007.

In fact, Frank Clair Stadium is currently the only 2-Star rated field in the CONCACAF region, which not only includes North America, but also Central America and the Caribbean. Sportexe®, a global leader in the synthetic turf industry, provided its new BladeMaster® turf system which was installed by Defargo Sports Surfacing.

Chiarelli also declared soccer as the official sport of the city in 2007 as Ottawa is one of six Canadian cities to host the world championship event next June and July.

“Ottawa is thrilled to be the only city in North America to obtain a FIFA 2-Star rating,” said Chiarelli. “We are working hard to make Frank Clair Stadium the best that it can be and that includes an elite new Sportexe playing surface that is enjoyed year round.”

The incumbent mayor, who is in the midst of a tight mayoral election race, said the city already had plans to construct 40 new soccer fields by 2010 and the funding could be available to catapult that total to 100. Chiarelli believes this is a health issue, citing statistics showing four out of five young people do not receive enough physical activity.

“Ottawa is going soccer crazy as the host of next years FIFA Under-20 World Cup,” said Chiarelli. “I wanted to mark this exciting event by declaring soccer Ottawa’s official sport in 2007 and I announced a plan to construct 100 new soccer fields throughout our great city.”

Soccer fever has reached an all-time high in Ottawa with the excitement of the Frank Clair Stadium 2-Star refit and with the Canadian national team playing host to the world at Landsdowne Park. However local numbers showing 40,000 registered soccer association members compared to 30,000 registered hockey members prove that Ottawa has been a hotbed-in-the-making for Canadian soccermania.

Since ticket packages were made available on Saturday, July 15, over 350,000 seats (over 65 percent of the 520,000 target) have been sold throughout Canada for the world cup event.

FIFA officials have been so impressed with the mayor’s initiative for future soccer development they have suggested that such bold steps could net Chiarelli nomination for FIFA’s Fair Play award.

“You guys are lucky,” said FIFA vice president Jack Warner, chairman of the FIFA Under-20 World Cup organizing committee, at a news conference at Frank Clair Stadium on Oct. 23. “Your mayor is saying 100 facilities for soccer . this is tremendous.”

Other host venues for the Under-20 World Cup include Victoria, Burnaby, Edmonton, Montreal, and Toronto.

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