MACON — Mercer University’s soccer pitch and athletic facilities will serve as a practice site for the Los Angeles Football Club while the team prepares for the FIFA Club World Cup later this month in Atlanta.
The effort to attract and host a team has for months been quietly led by local, university and tourism officials in advance of FIFA World Cup matches in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium next summer, when Macon hopes to become the practice home for a national team.
The university spent upward of $1 million to bring its soccer pitch up to World Cup standards, said Jim Cole, Mercer’s athletic director.
“A World Cup representative is here three times a week, measuring the grass, taking temperatures — that’s how intense it is,” Cole said.
Civic leaders on Tuesday trumpeted the city’s hosting of this month’s contingent from Los Angeles, which could include around 70 people. Arriving in mid-June, the L.A. squad, set to play Chelsea on June 16, could be based in Macon for as long as two weeks.
Atlanta is scheduled to host six matches in the Club World Cup in the coming weeks, ahead of next year’s World Cup, when national teams, not clubs, will compete in Atlanta and other cities.
Whether Macon gets the nod to host a national team next summer may hinge on how well things go this month.
Said Cole: “We’ve got to knock it out of the park to keep our name on that list so that when they start picking sites, we’re there. … It’s high-stakes poker.”
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