BURST
The white leather sneakers Jessie Adcock wears with her black business suit offer a hint that her job is a bit different than most other corporate gigs.
Her days are filled with the usual meetings, phone calls and report deadlines. But a mandatory part of her new role is going to professional soccer matches.
Adcock is host committee lead and chief delivery officer for Vancouver’s portion of the FIFA World Cup in June and July. And her focus for the next seven weeks is ensuring the games proceed on time, on budget, and without any major complications.
“This will absolutely be the most complex thing that I’ve ever overseen the delivery of, especially given that it is a very high-profile event with significant consequences. And also a very, very hard deadline,” she said in a recent interview with Postmedia.
Growing up in Metro Vancouver, Adcock didn’t play soccer but she is a sports fan. She also launched a successful career in leadership positions in government and corporate organizations.
She never envisioned though she’d one day be in charge of organizing seven international soccer games for the most-watched sporting event in the world.
“It’s a dream job,” she said.
As a woman of colour, she hopes her experience leading FIFA Vancouver sends a positive message to youth in her hometown and beyond.
“I never knew that I would ever achieve a level where I would be able to lead something like this. I would say, personally, I haven’t seen a lot of role models that look like me or leaders that look like me in this type of sport,” she said.
Vancouver is one of 16 host cities in North America, and will deliver seven of this year’s 104 World Cup matches. An estimated 350,000 people are expected to visit Vancouver, and nearly three billion people watched the 2022 World Cup on TV.
Adcock’s day-to-day responsibilities go beyond turf and jerseys.
She oversees a team whose job is to work with governments and First Nations to make sure venues, including the two practice pitches, are ready; logistics for the seven games are in order; necessary messages have gone out to residents and businesses; and fans are kept safe.
Adcock and her colleagues have also attended many soccer matches to ensure “a very deep understanding of the game.”
With the first match scheduled for June 13, it’s now crunch time: Signs are going up across the city, plans are underway to open a FIFA merchandise store downtown, and the Fan Festival site at the PNE is being finished.
Fan associations from other countries are being contacted about their needs while here, such as ensuring they have places to watch the games together.
A FIFA “playbook” has been shared with local restaurants, hotels and stores, to encourage them to jump on the tournament bandwagon without breaking the football federation’s rules. They can decorate with country flags and soccer balls, but not anything with a FIFA logo or images that suggest “an official association” with the national teams.
“It’s got lots of tips in there on how to decorate, how to get involved in the spirit,” Adcock said of the playbook.
There has been debate over the cost of hosting the tournament, at a time when many Vancouverites and Canadians are struggling to pay for basic necessities.
A year ago, the province estimated the price to stage FIFA Vancouver could total $624 million , but Adcock said that projection was made without knowing key details, such as which teams were coming to Vancouver or whether the matches were in the daytime or evening.
A more precise budget is expected to be announced later this spring. Adcock declined to provide details, but added, “we’re pretty close to plan.”
FIFA will leave behind few bricks-and-mortar legacies, like the Olympics did with the Canada Line and Richmond oval.
But Adcock argues hosting the World Cup will bring other benefits: an increase in the popularity of soccer in Canada; a boost to restaurants, hotels and the hospitality industry; and an elevated profile for local businesses, such as those involved in event management, construction, sign making or fencing.
The province projects one million more tourists will visit B.C. and spend an extra $1 billion in the five years after the World Cup. Adcock said is based, in part, on tourism trends from past high-profile events, such as the 2010 Winter Olympics and Expo 86.
“There’s an opportunity to showcase our businesses, our industry, our culture to the world,” she said. “This is a strategic investment that we’re making, not only in the short-term impacts, but there is a long-term benefit to this for the province.”
The impression the world will have of Vancouver’s tournament will depend, perhaps, on how safe fans feels while here.
Plans to protect the public encompass crowd control, venue security and road safety. Measures are based on lessons from other global events, as well as local examples, such as the 2011 Stanley Cup riots and last year’s Lapu Lapu festival car-ramming tragedy.
“Safety is a priority,” Adcock said.
She is diplomatic when asked about co-hosting the tournament with the United States, where the president has created cross-border tensions by imposing crippling economic tariffs and musing about making Canada his 51st state.
Adcock said her team is not immune to geopolitics but has tried to mitigate those risks. One solution, she said, was to source as many local and Canadian suppliers as possible for the tournament.
Adcock’s long LinkedIn profile indicates she has held executive positions at telecommunication firms, a bank and other large corporations, and also served as chief information officer for the City of Vancouver and as a federal government assistant deputy minister.
“I feel like everything I’ve ever done has led me to this moment,” she said.
She insists the planning for the tournament is “pretty on track.” The issue that weighs most on her mind is making sure matches go off without a hitch, so the country is proud, and “nobody looks back and says, ‘They missed something.'”
“We are feeling very good,” she said. “We’re feeling very ready.”