Jesse Marsch, manager of the Canada men’s national team, suspects that three players he summoned from the Vancouver Whitecaps were poisoned during their recent visit to Mexico.

The Whitecaps traveled to Mexico City to take part in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final, losing 5-0 to Cruz Azul.

The club canceled a training session on Wednesday after experiencing a ‘significant number’ of players and staff suffering from gastrointestinal issues.

Sam Adekugbe, Ali Ahmed, and Jayden Nelson, all from the Whitecaps, were selected to join the Canadian national team for the upcoming CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament.

Prior to a friendly tournament against Ukraine, Marsch spoke to reporters following an event with the Canada Ukraine Foundation to blast CONCACAF for its inaction and making accusations – admitting he had no proof.

Canada manager Jesse Marsch lobbied accusations the Vancouver Whitecaps were poisoned

Multiple Whitecaps players and staff fell ill after the CONCACAF Champions Cup final against Cruz Azul played in Mexico City last weekend, leading to a cancelled training on Wednesday

Canada callups (L-R) Sam Adekugbe, Ali Ahmed, and Jayden Nelson were among the ill

‘It’s, for me, appalling that this is the second year in a row that CONCACAF and the powers that be have allowed an MLS tea to go down to Mexico for a big final and get poisoned,’ Marsch said. ‘It’s ridiculous. Something has to be done to protect these environments.’

Last season, the Columbus Crew played in the final of the same tournament – traveling to Mexico to take on Pachuca. Pachuca won 3-0.

Following that game, Columbus manager Wilfried Nancy reported that multiple members of the first team and the coaching staff were suffering from food poisioning. General manager Tim Bezbatchenko suggested the team may be a victim of ‘subterfuge’.

The Whitecaps attempted to mitigate these circumstances from happening to them by hiring their own chef, however the issues occurred anyway. 

Marsch continued, telling reporters: ‘Look, in the past when you would go down there, I remember being with the U.S. national team and club teams going down to Mexico, it was ‘will the fire alarm be pulled in the middle of the night? Will there be dancing and singing?’ And those are somewhat spirited, competitive advantages that are created when you go down to Mexico. But poisoning the team is another version.’

‘Look I don’t have any proof here that this (occurred) but it’s not random. It’s not random that two years in a row this has happened. 

‘If I were the Vancouver Whitecaps, if I were the Columbus Crew, if I were MLS, I would be absolutely angry that this has been allowed to happen.

‘When all three of (Adekugbe, Ahmed, and Nelson) are sick, it’s clear. It wasn’t just ‘Ah, I don’t feel so great’. There was talk of whether it was an infectious virus but in the end, I don’t want to speak but I think the results are that it was food poisoning.’

A similar incident of alleged food poisoning happened in the 2024 edition of the CONCACAF Champions Cup final when Columbus Crew players fell ill after playing the game in Pachuca

Marsch admitted he had no evidence, but called on MLS and CONCACAF to do something

Adekugbe, Ahmed, and Nelson all participated in training sessions with the Canadian national team on Friday morning. However, Marsch says their recent ailments have led to him re-considering who starts against Ukraine on Saturday. 

‘We weren’t planning to but when the Vancouver guys got poisoned, that changed the plan. They all feel good today, but they’re all different. They’re not at 100 percent like they would be,’ Marsch said.

‘You don’t run into two years in a final and a bout of MLS teams getting food poisoning for a final. I get it why (players) can’t say anything, they’re not sure, and I’m not sure either. But this is too much of a coincidence.’

After the fixture against Ukraine, Canada will play Cote d’Ivoire in another friendly on Tuesday evening.

From there, they travel to the west coast for the start of the Gold Cup – which has them in Group B.

They open the tournament against Honduras in Vancouver before traveling to Houston to face Curacao and El Salvador.

Under Marsch, Canada has continued its strong form in CONCACAF competitions. Earlier this year, Marsch’s men defeated the United States to finish third in the CONCACAF Nations League.