Canada 2015 recognised as International Sport Event of the Year

Canada Soccer has won a PRESTIGE award from the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance for hosting the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™. The record-breaking international soccer event – which drew an unprecedented 1.35-million spectators from coast-to-coast across Canada while drawing a worldwide television audience of more than 750 million viewers – was one of two winners of the CSTA International Sport Event of the Year award.

“Canada Soccer is honoured to have been selected for a 2015 PRESTIGE award from the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance,” said Victor Montagliani, President of Canada Soccer. “The FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™ was truly a spectacular and once-in-a-lifetime event for Canada, one that helped promote our nation, our sport, and women to more than 200 nations across the world.”

“Once again we had a tremendous group of finalists for the PRESTIGE awards and it was difficult to narrow it down to the final recipients,” said Rick Traer, CEO, Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance. “Congratulations to all those receiving PRESTIGE awards. Each one is an outstanding example of the dedication and excellence throughout the sport tourism industry in Canada. You have all made significant contributions to maintain Canada’s reputation as one of the world’s leading sport hosting nations.”

The 10th anniversary PRESTIGE Awards were presented on Monday 7 March 2016 during the CSTA’s annual Sport Events Congress at the Westin Hotel in Ottawa at a gala luncheon. For more information on all the award winners, please visit canadiansporttourism.com.

The FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™ was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Canadians, hosted from coast-to-coast (Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montréal, Moncton) from 6 June to 5 July 2015. With a record-setting 1,353,506 spectators over 52 matches, it drew the largest attendance for a single-sport event in Canada as well as the highest attendance for a FIFA event outside the prestigious men’s FIFA World Cup™.

This marks Canada Soccer’s second PRESTIGE award, having previously captured the 2007 CSTA Sport Event of the Year after hosting the record-breaking FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007.