Crew coach Wilfried Nancy says CONCACAF Cup final should be neutral site after food poisoning outbreak

Columbus Crew SC coach Wilfried Nancy said he hopes CONCACAF will consider moving future Champions Cup finals to a neutral site after Crew players and staff suffered food poisoning days before his team lost 3-0 to Pachuca in the final on June 1 in Mexico.

“Not for me, for my team, (but) for all the teams,” Nancy said Tuesday. “For all the countries, a final like this (should be) neutral site.”

Nancy said after the final many of his players spent the two days leading up to the match suffering from an illness, which the team doctor later determined was likely food poisoning. Days later, then-Columbus president and general manager Tim Bezbatchenko suggested the Crew’s performance could’ve in part been the result of “subterfuge.” (Bezbatchenko has since left the club for a position with Black Knight Football.)

“I’m not a bad loser,” Nancy said Tuesday. “I hate losing, but I respect the defeat. I could have said before the game we were all sick, because this is exactly what happened, but I didn’t do it.

“It’s true that something happened over there. We were all good, and suddenly when we woke up, we were all sick.”

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Crew had suspicions of food poisoning subterfuge at Champions Cup final, source says

The Crew arrived in Pachuca on May 30 and ate at their team hotel that evening, with several players falling ill in the hours following, according to the Columbus Dispatch. By Friday, the outbreak was widespread. Bezbatchenko said the number of team players and personnel affected reached “the teens.”

A source within the Crew locker room who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter told The Athletic last week that there was suspicion that the club’s food was tainted but that “none of us have given it too much thought.” The source said the illness was “brutal” and agreed with Nancy that the outbreak affected the Crew’s performance in the final.

“Don’t get me wrong, Pachuca won 3-0,” Nancy said. “The way I’ve been educated is when you lose 3-0, you shut your mouth.

“I think that it could be fair for the future if we decide to play one game but to play one game, neutral site. That’s why for me, yes, this is not an excuse, but it’s a fact.”

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How Pachuca beat the Columbus Crew in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final

Home advantage for the CONCACAF Champions Cup final does not immediately go to the higher seed, as it does in many other North American sports brackets. It is determined by whichever finalist had the better performance in previous rounds of the tournament, which is decided by total points, and then goal differential.

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(Photo: Hector Vivas / Getty Images)