Should upcoming soccer friendly between Canada and Iran be cancelled?
Should upcoming soccer friendly between Canada and Iran be cancelled?
Should upcoming soccer friendly between Canada and Iran be cancelled?
It’s a soccer match that’s turning political.
On June 5, the Canadian men’s national soccer team will play its first match on Canadian soil since qualifying for the 2022 World Cup. The team is set to host #21-ranked Iran in an international friendly at BC Place.
Although it’s already proving to be a hot ticket, some, including the prime minister, believe organizers should have chosen a different opponent.
“This was a choice by Sport Canada, by Soccer Canada,” said Justin Trudeau Tuesday during a media scrum. “It wasn’t a very good idea to invite the Iranian soccer team here to Canada.”
On Jan. 8, 2020, Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752 was mistakenly shot down by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps just minutes after taking off from the Tehran airport.
“It’s like we have been betrayed by the government and Soccer Canada,” said Hamed Esmaeilion, a spokesperson for an advocacy group seeking justice for families of victims of Flight 752
Esmaeilion’s wife and daughter were among the 176 people who died that day, 55 of whom were Canadian. He says visas for the Iranian team should never have been granted in the first place.
“I think the best thing to do is to cancel it,” said Esmaeilion via Zoom in Toronto. “Choose another team. This is outrageous for the families, this is very disappointing for the families.”
In a statement to CTV News, Canada Soccer says it “believes in the power of sport and its ability to bring people from different backgrounds and political beliefs together” for a common purpose. “Canada soccer continues to follow all international protocols in staging this match.”
Meanwhile, Esmaelion says the game sends a mixed message, as several Canadian families and the federal government are still seeking justice for their loved ones.
“When we want to take them to international court of justice or international forum — what does it mean to invite a soccer team here and play a friendly game?”
Esmaelion says he and other families of victims plan to stage a protest during the match outside BC Place.
Cassidy Hutchinson, a key aide in Donald Trump's White House, told the House committee investigating the violent Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection on Tuesday that Trump was informed that people rallying on the mall that morning had weapons but he told officials to 'let my people in' and march to the Capitol.
Ghislaine Maxwell, the jet-setting socialite who once consorted with royals, presidents and billionaires, was sentenced to 20 years in prison Tuesday for helping the wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse underage girls.
At a time of enhanced global uncertainty and growing Chinese influence, the Canadian government faces mounting pressure to appoint a diplomatic representative in Beijing after the post has sat vacant for six months.
Scotiabank is putting its Hockey Canada sponsorship on ice. The financial institution said Tuesday the pause will last until it's confident the right steps are taken to improve the culture within the sport.
"Officers initially detained the driver for impaired driving by alcohol, however their focus quickly diverted after noting that he was literally holding in his hands two bricks of suspected cocaine," said Nanaimo RCMP in a release Tuesday.
Ghislaine Maxwell, the jet-setting socialite who once consorted with royals, presidents and billionaires, was sentenced to 20 years in prison Tuesday for helping the wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse underage girls.
Ontario's police watchdog is investigating after Ottawa police officers shot and killed a man and injured a woman while responding to the stabbing deaths of two women.
A coroner's report released Tuesday is calling on Quebec to teach new drivers to open their car doors with their right hand in order to prevent dooring incidents with cyclists.
The Montreal police's anti-gang squad has seized 'a significant quantity' of weapons and drugs in a joint-department operation running from Toronto to Quebec.
A new estimate by Doctors Manitoba shows the backlog of diagnostic tests and surgeries that built up during the pandemic has fallen since last month, but there are still more than 100,000 procedures on the wait list.
Pembina Valley RCMP charged a 29-year-old woman earlier this month after her 13-year-old daughter and six of her friends were involved in an off-road vehicle (ORV) crash.
The body of a 19-year-old man who went missing while swimming at the public beach in Buena Vista, Sask. on Last Mountain Lake has been recovered, according to RCMP.
A scathing letter from an RCMP communications manager released today says RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki referred to direct pressure from the federal public safety minister to release firearm details in the days after the Nova Scotia mass shooting.
A high-profile sex scandal involving Prince Andrew is prompting a school in Dartmouth, N.S., to change its name. As of Aug. 1, Prince Andrew High School will be renamed Woodlawn High School, to reflect the name of the street and subdivision where the school is located.
Ghislaine Maxwell, the jet-setting socialite who once consorted with royals, presidents and billionaires, was sentenced to 20 years in prison Tuesday for helping the wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse underage girls.
The proposed development at 97 Victoria Street would feature a “campus-style” cluster of common areas, service spaces and housing for people experiencing homelessness.
The federal government and City of Waterloo are giving the Albert McCormick Community Centre nearly $3 million in combined funding to retrofit the facility.
