Canada’s national male team coach, Jesse Marsch, expressed indignation on Friday, saying that Vancouver WhiteCaps players had been “poisoned” during his visit to Mexico for the final of the Concacaf Champions Cup.
Whitecaps issued a statement on Thursday by saying that approximately half of the 75 people returning to Vancouver on the team’s charter after Sunday’s game had reported symptoms of a gastrointestinal disease.
Whitecaps players, Ali Ahmed, Sam Adekugbe and Jayden Nelson, lost training after getting sick in the Canadian camp in Halifax before Saturday’s game in Toronto BMO field between Canada and Ukraine in the opening tournament of the Canadian shield.
“They are better now,” Marsch said before speaking at a breakfast at the Ukraine Foundation of Canada on Friday. “They are probably not ready for 90 -minute performances [Saturday]. But for me, it is terrible that this is the second consecutive year in which Concacaf and the powers that have allowed an MLS team to go to Mexico for a final final and poison.
“It’s ridiculous. You have to do something to protect these environments.”
Columbus’s team also complained about stomach diseases after its loss in the CF Pachuca in Mexico in the final of the Champions Cup last year. The Wilfried Nancy crew coach confirmed later that almost the entire list and the coaching staff had been affected by what the club believed it was food poisoning.
Marsch acknowledged that he had no poisoning evidence, but added: “It is not random that two years in a row.”
“If I were Vancouver’s Whitecaps, if I were Columbus’s crew, if it were MLS, I would be angry. I would be absolutely angry because this would have been allowed to happen,” he said.
Whitecaps chief coach, Jesper Sorensen, said Friday that he does not believe that someone intentionally has ill to his team.
“I don’t hope we are deliberately poisoned or anything when we were there. But I don’t know,” he said.
Marsch has experience in being at the receiving end of the dark arts while visiting Mexico with the USA. Or a club team, citing fire alarms in the middle of the night and dancing and singing outside their hotel.
“And those are somewhat energetic competitive advantages that are created when you go down to Mexico,” he said. “But poisoning the team is another version.”
Andi Petrillo talks with the former player and analyst of Usmnt Sacha Kljeten to obtain a preview of the Gold Cup 2025. With Canada under chief coach Jesse Marsch, Kljestan breaks down the key stories for Canada.
Marsch said he understood that whites for whites suffered from food poisoning.
Vancouver arrived in Mexico City last Friday and was defeated 5-0 by Cruz Azul in the Sunday final of the Concacaf Elite Club competition.
“We have not only lost the game, but we have also collected some type of virus and we are dealing with that at this time,” said the director and CEO of Vancouver Sporting, Axel Schuster, to journalists on Thursday.
Schuster said it was “unlikely” that any of Vancouver players experienced symptoms during the game.
The club said in a statement on Thursday that he is working with local health authorities and an expert in infectious diseases regarding the disease.
WhiteCaps canceled a planned training session on Wednesday and held an individual session modified on Thursday for players who had been authorized by medical staff. Some players returned to the field to train on Friday, but left the session early, said Sorensen.
Vancouver is scheduled to receive the Seattle Sounders on Sunday, but Sorensen said he cannot imagine that his team is ready for the game.
“I don’t want to risk our players. That is the most important thing for me. The most important thing is health and care for players,” said the coach. “For now, it seems difficult for us to put a team for a game that we should be able to compete in the MLS. But that is just my opinion.”
When asked after training on Friday, Marsch did not retire from his comments.
“It is obvious, you are not with two years and the final and MLS teams receive food poisoning,” he said. “I understand, why they can’t say anything. They are not sure, and I’m not sure. But this is a great coincidence. It’s a shame.”
Concacaf declined to comment on Marsch’s statement.
While the Confederation takes total control of the Gold Cup and the Concacaf Nations League, acts in a more support role in the Champions Cup. It offers financial support and, if necessary, logistics advice to teams that compete in the club’s competition.
