Vancouver Whitecaps fans cheer as the team walks onto the field before Game 2 of a first-round MLS playoff soccer match against Los Angeles FC, in Vancouver, on Sunday, November 5, 2023. The Whitecaps are shifting their first-round CONCACAF Champions Cup game on Feb. 7 to Starlight Stadium in Langford, B.C., because of a scheduling conflict at B.C. Place, the club's home stadium. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps are shifting their CONCACAF Champions Cup game on Feb. 7 to Starlight Stadium in Langford, B.C., because of a scheduling conflict at B.C. Place, the club’s home stadium.
Vancouver entertains Mexican club Tigres UANL in the first round of the 27-team competition. The first leg will take place on Vancouver Island before a second leg at Estadio Universitario in San Nicolás de los Garza, Mexico on Feb. 14.
B.C. Place is hosting the “2024 BC Home and Garden Show” from Feb. 8 to Feb. 11.
Whitecaps chief executive officer Axel Schuster says in a statement the team explored all possibilities and venues in B.C. upon learning of the conflict. He says Starlight Stadium was the only CONCACAF-approved stadium.
Starlight Stadium, which has a capacity of some 6,000, is home to the Canadian Premier League’s Pacific FC.
It will also be the site of Calgary-based Cavalry FC’s Champions Cup match against Orlando City SC on a to-be-determined date in February to escape the Alberta cold.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 18, 2023.
