A Canadian fan has filed a class-action lawsuit against FIFA over deception in World Cup ticket sales. The Government of British Columbia has dismissed rumours about the sale of BC Place. Vancouver has approved the construction of the tallest skyscraper in Western Canada — a 79-storey tower standing 315 metres tall.
A British Columbia resident files a class-action lawsuit against FIFA over deception in World Cup ticket sales
A Canadian fan from Delta, British Columbia, named Rajwinder Rai, decided not to put up with the fact that the World Cup football match tickets he bought turned out to be far worse than advertised. He has initiated legal proceedings that could grow into a class-action lawsuit against FIFA itself and its Canadian “subsidiary” FWC26 Football Ltd. The core of the complaint is simple: organizers sold tickets by indicating only an approximate area on a colour map of the stadium, without promising specific seats. However, according to the lawsuit, FIFA had secretly “cut out” the best sections in advance for expensive VIP packages, while ordinary purchasers were left with worse seats. Rai spent $1,440 on two tickets for the Round of 16 match between Switzerland and Algeria at BC Place. When he finally learned his seats, he was horrified: they were in a much worse part of the arena than the purchased category suggested. As a result, the fan was forced to resell the tickets at a huge loss, receiving only $950, and after FIFA commissions he lost $632.50. The lawsuit was filed in the Supreme Court of British Columbia on July 22, and the defendants have yet to respond.
If the judge agrees to certify it as a class action, anyone in a similar situation could join Rai. The lawsuit alleges that FIFA breached a “duty of care” and engaged in “deceptive trade practices.” In the plaintiff’s view, the organization intentionally concealed that the most prestigious seats in the lower rows and by the field had already been reserved for “Category 1” and guest packages, while ordinary fans received what was left. At the same time, the colour map shown at the time of purchase did not include such details, and buyers assumed that everyone had equal chances of getting good seats within a given zone. “Group members relied on the advertised category descriptions when buying tickets. The respondents knew or ought to have known that the omission of hidden reservations of the best seats would mislead buyers,” the document says. Rai is seeking an order requiring FIFA to pay compensation to all affected people.
This is not the only ticket scandal connected to the World Cup in Vancouver. Earlier, the Consumer Protection BC authority began investigating ticket reseller StubHub after complaints from people who never received their tickets. What’s more, back in June the same regulator found violations of the provincial Ticket Sales Act by FIFA’s Canadian subsidiary and two major retailers — Business in Vancouver reported on that. In Rai’s lawsuit, it is also specifically emphasized that he bought tickets directly from FIFA, not from resellers, so the case could become an important precedent for all direct sellers of major sporting events. The situation exposes a long-standing problem: when buying tickets for high-demand events, fans often end up paying for “the cat in the bag,” while organizers allocate the best seats in advance for sponsors and VIP guests, leaving ordinary supporters with less attractive options. In this case, FIFA will have to answer in Canadian courts for how transparent these schemes were.
BC Place is not for sale: the government denies rumours that the “BC Lions” owner is buying the stadium
Recent speculation about the future of BC Place — one of Canada’s largest indoor sports venues — has taken an unexpected turn. The Government of the province of British Columbia has clearly stated that the facility is not being put up for sale, despite a long-standing interest from BC Lions owner Amar Doman. In an interview with CityNews, Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation, explained that the province received a letter from the football club offering to buy or operate the stadium, but that it is not officially considering it. “We’re not interested,” Kahlon stressed. “No formal application to purchase has been submitted.” At the same time, he left the door open for other types of cooperation: the Lions could pursue some “alternative format” for involvement in the stadium’s day-to-day operations. Meanwhile, Vancouver Whitecaps, another tenant looking for a new owner since late 2024, is discussing a long-term lease with the province. Kahlon noted that the government is willing to help the club increase revenue: in 2026, a one-year agreement is already in place under which Whitecaps will receive about $1.5 million from game-day profits. However, any deal must come with no new costs for taxpayers, and BC Place must remain available for major public events. Taxpayers have already put enormous sums into the stadium — for example, building the retractable roof cost more than $500 million after it was completed in 2011. Now, according to Kahlon, BC Place is close to breaking even. In the latest financial report from Crown corporation PavCo (the public corporation that owns the stadium) for 2025, the cost of the building itself is estimated at roughly $300 million, and the land beneath it at $70 million. In other words, the province is signalling that BC Place is a strategic asset that will not be sold, but may adapt its operating model in the interests of sports clubs and the public.
Vancouver approves construction of the tallest skyscraper in Western Canada — the project sparks controversy
Vancouver City Council has approved the construction of a large complex that will reshape the downtown core and set a new height record for all of Western Canada. The project is a 79-storey tower rising 315 metres (more than 1,000 feet), which will become the first “supertall” building in British Columbia — the term used for skyscrapers between 300 and 599 metres. For comparison, the 25-storey Hudson Place One in Victoria reaches only 85 metres, while a proposal for a 35-storey tower on Blanchard Street (118 metres) was rejected back in March. The new development by Holborn Group and Henriquez Partners Architects will take up nearly two city blocks in downtown Vancouver (bounded by West Georgia, Seymour, Dunsmuir and Richards). In addition to the record-setting 79-storey tower, the plan includes two 68-storey buildings — one will become the city’s largest hotel and the other a residential skyscraper — as well as a 25-storey building with 237 units of social housing at 388 Abbott St., which after completion will be owned by the municipality.
Council members from the governing ABC Vancouver party, which holds the majority, called the project approval a “once-in-a-lifetime ambitious opportunity” that will transform the city’s skyline, create a tourist draw with a rooftop viewing platform, and energize the business core. Holborn CEO Ju Kim Tia said the council’s decision “sends a good signal to the business community: Vancouver is open for business and the city has ambitions.” Construction, however, will not start for at least a couple of years — first the developer must sell enough condominium units to secure financing. The developer clearly wanted to secure approval before the October elections, since the new council could be less accommodating. The opposition, including COPE councillor Sean Orr, proposed delaying the vote until the city’s ongoing policy review on high-rises is completed — the work is already under way and is expected to continue into next year. Renowned architect and planner Michael Geller wrote to council that approving the project before the review is finished, regardless of its merits, would be “completely inappropriate.” In his view, the city officials’ claim that the project “does not necessarily set a precedent for taller buildings in other parts of the city — is, plainly, ridiculous. You all know it.”
Orr’s amendment was supported by OneCity’s Lucy Maloney and Greens councillor Pete Fry, but ABC’s majority rejected it.
Beyond the procedural dispute, many opponents pointed to the developer’s record. Holborn, owned by one of Malaysia’s wealthiest families, is known for a prolonged redevelopment of the Little Mountain area, where hundreds of low-income families were displaced; the controversy attracted negative attention both to the developer and to the provincial government at the time. The company was also a partner with the Trump Organization on the construction of Trump Tower on West Georgia. Speaking to council, Tia said that most of the planned social housing at Little Mountain has already been built and that the remaining two buildings will be completed this year. Maloney, however, pointed to the long gap between the demolition of social housing at Little Mountain and its replacement, as well as Holborn’s “outrageous” disregard for the heritage building at 500 Dunsmuir St., which had to be demolished last year for safety reasons. “I don’t think Holborn should be rewarded for how they’ve behaved in our city for a long time,” Maloney said. After the vote, TEAM for a Livable Vancouver candidate Collin Hardwick, who had urged delaying the decision, said that rewarding “a developer with such a questionable history in Little Mountain is beyond comprehension. Unfortunately, once a precedent is set, it becomes impossible to roll it back.”
Even though the skyscraper will be the tallest in Western Canada, it will still be shorter than Toronto’s famous CN Tower (553 metres) and future projects such as The One in Toronto (338 metres). For Vancouver, however — a city that has traditionally had height restrictions because of views of the mountains and the ocean — it is a real breakthrough, and a prompt for sharp debate about whether the city should sacrifice its character and principles for developers’ ambitions.
Source: Times Colonist, Western Canada's tallest skyscraper approved for downtown Vancouver.
