BEGIN:VCALENDAR PRODID:-//github.com/ical-org/ical.net//NONSGML ical.net 5.1.4//EN VERSION:2.0 BEGIN:VEVENT DESCRIPTION:  Chris Canetti President\, Houston 2026 World Cup Host Comm ittee Chris Canetti is President of the Houston 2026 World Cup Host Com mittee and oversees the city’s plans to host the 2026 FIFA World Cu p. Prior to his current role\, Canetti served as President of the Houston 2026 World Cup Bid Committee and led the successful effort to bring the  2026 FIFA World Cup to Houston. Houston was named a FIFA World Cup ho st city in June of 2022 after a four-year bidding process. He took on the World Cup Bid Committee role in 2019 after working 19 seasons as an ex ecutive in Major League Soccer. Canetti was with the Houston Dynamo f or 13 years and served as club President for eight years. When he stepped down in October 2018\, he was the longest tenured club President in Major League Soccer. He joined the Dynamo in its inaugural season of 2006 as the team’s Chief Operating Officer and was promoted to President in 201 0.  He was a part of three championships with the Dynamo\, including two  MLS Cup titles and one U.S. Open Cup title. During his tenure\, the Dynamo made eight playoff appearances\, including trips to seven Conferen ce Finals and four MLS Cup Finals. Canetti has been on the Houston sports scene for more than 19 years and has established a positive reputation lo cally and nationally. He was listed on the Sports Illustrated 2013 ran king of the “Top 50 Most Powerful People in U.S. Soccer” by Grant W ahl. He was given Honorable Mention by the Houston Chronicle on the  “2019 List of Houston’s Top 10 Most Important Sports Figures” and  on the “Top 10 Houston Coaches and Executives for Teams of the Decade. ”He was also Named “No. 1 Most Powerful Person in Houston” by AX IOS Houston in 2022 and Honorable mention by Houston Chronicle on 20 23 List of “Houston’s Top 10 Most Influential Sports Figures”. Cane tti managed the public-private development of Shell Energy Stadium\, a s tate-of-the art venue that opened in 2012. Since then\, the stadium has hosted a variety of great events\, from Dynamo games to international socc er\, rugby\, lacrosse\, football\, and concerts - including hitshows like  Ed Sheeran and Kenny Chesney.  He oversaw the 2010 MLS All-Star Game  at NRG Stadium that featured Manchester Unitedand attracted a sellout crowd of 70\,000 people\, making it the fifth-most attended All-Star g ame in U.S. history at the time.  Canetti’s was responsible for crea ting the Houston Dash\, the city’s professional women’s soccer team . Canetti serves on or has served on multiple non-profit boards\, includ ing the Greater Houston Boys & Girls Clubs\, Central Houston\, Inc\, Dy namo Charities\, Greater Houston Convention & Visitor’s Bureau\, and t he East End Chamber of Commerce. Over the years\, he has led several comm unity initiatives in and around Houston.  He has received numerous honors including the Sports Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Awardand MLS Doug Hamilton Executive of the Year Award. He was honored by the American Di abetes Association with the Houston Chapter’s “Generosity to Mankind Award.”  His most notable community work was in 2013 when he led the e fforts to support Newtown\, CTafter the Sandy Hook Elementary School tr agedy. Canetti organized “Soccer Night in Newtown” which drew global soccer stars such as Landon Donovan and Mia Hamm and brought togethe r the North American soccer community to provide hope and healing for the town. Canetti remained active in the Newtown community\, and\, in 2014\, h e was a recipient of the Charlotte Bacon Act of Kindness Award. Canetti also spearheaded the Dynamo’s efforts to support first responders by re cognizing members of the Newtown\, CT and Boston\, MA Police Departments after tragedies in its communities. He also led an initiative to support the Houston Fire Department after they lost four members of their squad in a 2013 fire.  Under his leadership\, the Dynamo organization contribut ed to the community’s response after the Hurricane Harvey disaster  in 2017. Shell Energy Stadium served as a drop off and distribution poin t for vital supplies\, and the club organized two charitable matches th at raised funds for the relief efforts. He also assisted the Santa Fe (TX ) community after a tragic school shooting in 2018\, working with a group of Santa Fe High School students to help launch a non-profit organizati on called Hearts United for Kindness. Prior to joining the Dynamo\, Canet ti served as the Assistant General Manager for the New York Red Bulls of MLS. He joined the New York organization in 2000 when it was called the  NY/NJ MetroStars. He spent six years with the team in various roles\, in cluding Vice President of Marketing & Public Relations. Ironically\, Canet ti’s first love was baseball\, which he played growing up and in colle ge. After graduation from Quinnipiac University (Hamden\, CT) in 1992\, he spent six years working with the New Haven Ravens\, a Double-A mino r league baseball affiliate of the Seattle Mariners and Colorado Rockie s – the last three as the team’s General Manager. He was just 26 when he was promoted to GM\, making him the youngest GM in baseball. Prior t o joining the Ravens\, Canetti was an Associate Sports Editor for the Sho reline Times in Guilford\, CT. He received his bachelor’s degree from Quinnipiac and was a four-year letterman for the Bobcats’ baseball team . He lives in the Houston-area with his wife\, Judi\, and daughters Kara  and Ella. Join Virtually ---> July 17\, 2025 DTEND:20250717T180000Z DTSTAMP:20261025T010415Z DTSTART:20250717T163000Z LOCATION:Tony’s Restaurant SEQUENCE:1 SUMMARY:World Cup news with Chris Canetti UID:3221dc02-9504-46c5-8732-be79b9109c68 X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

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Chris Canetti
\n< span class="s2" style="font-weight: bold\; line-height: 14.4px\; font-size : 12px\;">President\, Houston 2026 World Cup \;Host& nbsp\;Committee

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Chris Canetti is President of the \;Houston 2026 World Cup  \;Host \;Committee \;and \;oversees< /span> \;the city&rsquo\;s plans \;to host the \;2026 FIFA World Cup.

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Prior to his current role\, Canetti served as President of the \;Houston 2026 W orld Cup Bid Committee \;and led the successful effort to bring the  \; 2026 \;FIFA \;World Cup to Houston. \;Houston was named a FIFA World C up host city in June of 2022 after a four-year bidding process.

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He took on the World Cup B id Committee role \;in 2019 \;after \;working \;19 seasons as an exe cutive in \;Major League Soccer.

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Canetti \;was w ith \;the \;Houston Dynamo \;for 13 years and se rved as club President for eight years. \;When he stepped down in October 2018\, he was the longest tenured club President in Major League Soccer.&n bsp\;He joined the \;Dynamo \;in its inaugural season of 2006 as the tea m&rsquo\;s Chief Operating Officer and was promoted to President in 2010.& nbsp\;

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H< span class="s5" style="line-height: 14.4px\; font-size: 12px\;">e was a pa rt of three championships \;with the Dynamo\, including two \;< span class="s2" style="line-height: 14.4px\; font-size: 12px\; font-weight : bold\;">MLS Cup \;titles \;and one \;U.S. Open Cup \;title. \;During his tenure\, the Dynamo made eight playoff appear ances\, including trips to seven Conference Finals and four MLS Cup Finals .

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Canetti has be en on the Houston sports scene for more than 19 \;years and has establishe d a positive reputation locally and nationally. He was \;listed on the&nbs p\;Sports Illustrated \;2013  \;ranking of the \;&ldquo\;Top 50 Mo st Powerful People in U.S. Soccer&rdquo\; \;by \;G rant Wahl. He was given \;Honorable Mention by the \;Houston Chronicle \;on the \;&ldquo\;2019 List o f Houston&rsquo\;s Top 10 Most Important Sports Figures&rdquo\; \;and&nb sp\;on the \;&ldquo\;Top 10 Houston Coaches and Execu tives for Teams of the Decade.&rdquo\;He was also \;Named \;&ldquo\;No. 1 Most Powerful Person in Houston&rd quo\; \;by \;AXIOS Houston \;in 2022 \;and&nbs p\;Honorable mention by \;Houston Chronicle \;on&nbs p\;2023 List of \;&ldquo\;Houston&rsquo\;s Top 10 Most Influential Sports Figures&rdquo\;.

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Canetti managed the public-private development o f \;Shell Energy \;Stadium\, a s tate-of-the art venue that opened in 2012. Since then\, \;the stadium \; ha s hosted a variety of great events\, from Dynamo games to international so ccer\, rugby\, lacrosse\, football\, and concerts - including \;hitshows l ike \;Ed Sheeran \;and \;Ken ny Chesney.  \;He oversaw the \;2010 MLS All-Star Ga me  \;at \;NRG Stadium \;that featured \;Manchester Unitedand attracted a sellout crowd of 70\,000 peop le\, making it \;the \;fifth-most \;attended All-Star game in U .< span class="s5" style="line-height: 14.4px\; font-size: 12px\;">S. \;histo ry  \;at the time.  \;Canetti&rsquo\;s \;was responsible for creating t he \;Houston Dash\, \;the \;city&rsquo\;s professi onal women&rsquo\;s soccer team.

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Canetti serves \;on or has served \;on multiple non-p rofit boards\, including the \;Greater Houston Boys &\; Girls Clubs\, \;Central Houston\, Inc\, \;Dynamo Charities\, \; Greater Houston Convention &\; Visitor&rsquo\;s Bureau\, and \;the  \;East End Chamber of Commerce. Over the years\, he has le d several community initiatives in and around Houston.  \;He has received numerous honors including the \;Sports Business Jour nal&rsquo\;s 40 Under 40 Awardand \;MLS Doug Hamilton Executive of the Year Award. He was \;honored by the \;American Diabetes Association \;with the Houston Chapter&rsquo\;s&nbs p\;&ldquo\;Generosity to Mankind Award.&rdquo\;  \;< /span>His most notable community work was in 2013 when he led the efforts to suppor t \;Newtown\, CTafter the \;Sand y Hook Elementary School \;tragedy. Canetti organized \;&ldquo\;Soccer Night in Newtown&rdquo\; \;which drew global soccer stars \;such as \;Landon Donovan \;and \;Mia Hamm \;and brought together the Nort h American soccer community to provide hope and healing for the town. Cane tti remained active in the Newtown community\, and\, in 2014\, he was a re cipient of \;the \;Charlotte Bacon Act of Kindness&n bsp\;Award.

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Canetti also spearheaded the Dynamo&rsquo\;s efforts to support first responders by recognizing members of the Newtown \, CT and \;Boston\, MA \;Police Departments after tragedies in its communities. He also led an initiative to support the&nb sp\;Houston Fire Department \;after they lost four mem bers of their squad in a 2013 fire.  \;Under his leadership\, the Dynamo organization contributed to the community&rsquo\;s response \; after \ ;the \;Hurricane Harvey \;disaster \;in 2017.  \; Shell Energy \;Stadium served as a drop off and distribution point for v ital supplies\, and the club organized \;two \;charitable match es  \;th at raised funds for the relief efforts.

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He also assisted the \;Santa Fe (TX) \;community after a tragic school shooting in 2018\, working wi th a group of \;Santa Fe High School \;students to help launch a non-profit organization called \;Hear ts United for Kindness.

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Prior to joining the Dynamo\, Canetti served as the Assistant Genera l Manager for the \;New York Red Bulls \;of MLS. H e joined the New York organization in 2000 when it was called the \;NY/NJ MetroStars. He spent \;six \;years with the team i n various roles\, including Vice President of Marketing &\; Public Rela tions.

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Ironicall y\, Canetti&rsquo\;s first love was baseball\, which he played growing up& nbsp\;and \;in college. After graduation from \;Quin nipiac University \;(Hamden\, CT) \;in 1992\, he spent six years \;< /span>wor king \;with the \;New Haven Ravens\, a Double-A mino r league baseball affiliate of the \;Seattle Mariner s& nbsp\;and \;Colorado Rockies \;&ndash\; the last t hree as the team&rsquo\;s General Manager. He was just 26 when he \;was promoted \;to GM\, making him the youngest GM in baseball.

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Prior to joining the Ravens\, Canetti was an Associate Sports Editor for the \;Sh oreline Times \;in \;Guilford\, CT. \;He received hi s bachelor&rsquo\;s degree from Quinnipiac and was a four-year letterman f or the Bobcats&rsquo\; baseball team.

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He lives in the Houston-area with his wife\, \;< /span>Judi\, and daughters \;Kara \;and&n bsp\;Ella.

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< span style="font-size:20px\;">Join Virtually --->\; July 17\, 2025

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