Source: Politics<\/p>\n
VANCOUVER \u2014 Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber joined Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday to watch Canada\u2019s thrashing of Qatar<\/a>. Garber probably did not want Carney to enjoy the stadium experience too much.<\/p>\n BC Place is Major League Soccer\u2019s most troublesome facility. The arena is old, was not designed with soccer in mind, and is owned by a government agency \u2014 the BC Pavilion Corporation, which also controls the Vancouver Convention Center \u2014 that forces the Vancouver Whitecaps to fight for dates on the calendar against concerts and other events.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to be the ones that control our destiny, like every sports team does,\u201d Garber told reporters Friday in Seattle.<\/p>\n The Whitecaps are now up for sale, and Garber is actively pushing British Columbia\u2019s political establishment \u2014 including Premier David Eby and Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim \u2014 to find a solution can keep the team from decamping to Las Vegas<\/a>. While the government has been willing to renegotiate its financial relationship<\/a> with the team, a proposed new stadium would take \u201cfour-plus years\u201d in construction, which Garber said was untenable.<\/p>\n \u201cIt unimaginable how long we\u2019re going to be out of the stadium,\u201d he told reporters Friday in Seattle. \u201cThey are very relevant club that doesn\u2019t have a good business model, and you can\u2019t be sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n Garber recounted he met with Eby while in Vancouver, and sat with Carney and Victor Montagliani \u2014 the head of regional soccer confederation CONCACAF and a close ally of the prime minister \u2014 during the match itself. Garber said he has placed a league official in Vancouver full-time to manage the negotiations with local officials over the Whitecaps\u2019s future.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to be the ones that control our destiny, like every sports team does,\u201d said Garber. \u201cIt\u2019s easier for business people to make decisions, a little harder for politicians.\u201d<\/p>\n