Coliseum Delay May Impact World Cup
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New doubts that the renovation of the Coliseum will go forward on schedule in 1993 and ’94 may have altered Los Angeles’ prospects for playing host to World Cup matches, especially the finals.
The Coliseum, along with Pasadena’s Rose Bowl, has been part of the Los Angeles area’s bid for the 1994 World Cup. But with the Coliseum’s private managers saying that the aging stadium would be undergoing reconstruction just before that time, it was thought that soccer’s governing organization, FIFA, would not want to risk designating it as a playing site.
The silver lining of this week’s announcement by the Spectacor management firm that it has put the renovation on hold, subject to a review, is that it may be possible to use the Coliseum for World Cup matches at its traditional 92,500-seat capacity. Under the proposed renovation, the Coliseum would be reduced to 70,000 seats for Raider games, 85,000 for USC football.
The World Cup organizing committee has narrowed the number of bidders for matches throughout the United States to 19 and is scheduled to cut the number again, to 10 or 12 sites, in March. Then, negotiations will begin concerning the semifinal and final games.
By then, Spectacor should have a clear idea of whether the Coliseum will be available.
David Simon, president of the Los Angeles Sports Council, which is active in soliciting world-class events for the area, said that the Coliseum was “well within the window of possibility” for the World Cup finals.
John E. Bryson, chairman of the Los Angeles bid committee for the World Cup, said Tuesday he believes that either the Rose Bowl or the Coliseum would be an excellent site for the finals. But he noted that the Rose Bowl has a slightly larger capacity and was well regarded by international soccer authorities when it was the site of the 1984 Olympic soccer finals.
Neither of the stadiums has luxury boxes, but Bryson said he does not believe this to be an “overwhelming factor,” reducing the chances of the Rose Bowl or the Coliseum to be chosen.
