Winnipeg soccer fans gear up for FIFA despite dark cloud over event
Sweden and Nigeria kick off Winnipeg's FIFA World Cup action on Monday
Winnipeg soccer fans are gearing up for the FIFA Women's World Cup games that will be held in the city starting Monday with a match up between Sweden and Nigeria.
There wasn't a great deal of marketing needed to get Canadian soccer fans excited, said Bobby McMahon, a soccer analyst with Rogers Sportsnet and Forbes.com.
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"It's a tremendous event, anybody who is lucky enough to overtake it is going to see some great soccer," McMahon said Wednesday.
"The players will get on the park, they'll start doing marvelous stuff, they'll start exciting us, they'll get us cheering. And we'll start thinking about the soccer instead of thinking of the off-field events. The players will do what they always do and they'll show us why we love the game," McMahon told CBC's Information Radio.
The dark cloud
The "off-field events" referring to the corruption arrests of high-ranking FIFA officials last week, as well as FIFA's president agreeing to step down amid further allegations.
- FIFA soccer officials arrested as U.S., Switzerland probe corruption
- Sepp Blatter to step down as FIFA president
McMahon was "stunned" by Sepp Blatter's announcement.
"What I think a lot of people fail to realize is this is a story about four decades in the making," McMahon said, adding that the corruption was widely recognized amongst soccer fans.
"They've become accustomed to this low bar of they're just a corrupt organization. And to see this all coming together and Blatter going is just phenomenal."
Unfortunately for the women's tournament, the corruption arrests and allegations will be "a constant dark cloud over the event," McMahon said.
A player's point of view
The analyst isn't the only one who thinks the events of the past two weeks will cast a large shadow, a midfielder for the U.S. team, Carli Lloyd, just hopes something positive can come from the mess.
"I would love to see the game grow, where every country around the globe is being supported the way we're supported," Lloyd said, after arriving in Winnipeg Tuesday night.
"I think that a new leader could come on and just have equal rights for men and women. We care as well."
It's a countdown now until the U.S. takes on Australia on Monday at 6:30 p.m.
"It doesn't take away what we're trying to do. We're focused, we're ready, we're anxious."