Alyssa Naeher of the USA saves a penalty from Steph Houghton of England during the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup France Semi Final match between England and USA on July 2, 2019, in Lyon, France. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Two months after a chaotic scene at Hard Rock Stadium during the Copa America soccer championship, Florida members of Congress are asking the federal government for details about security plans when that same stadium hosts World Cup matches in 2026.
The FIFA World Cup is the most-watched sporting event in the world, as FIFA has claimed that some 1.5 billion people watched the 2022 final live on television. Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens is scheduled to hold seven 2026 World Cup games as part of the 104 games from the 48-team tournament that will also be hosted by cities in Canada and Mexico.
In the Copa America final, played on a Sunday night in July, fans entered the stadium without tickets and pushed through gates, trampled people, hopped fences, climbed through the ventilation system, and trashed an elevator while evading police and security personnel, as reported by USA Today.
In a letter Friday by Republican U.S. Sens. Rick Scott and Marco Rubio and seven members of the state’s congressional delegation, the lawmakers ask President Joe Biden and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to address these specific concerns:
DHS announced the Special Event Assessment Rating (SEAR) for Miami: The first six matches will be SEAR 2 events and the Bronze Final will be a SEAR 1 event. Does DHS have sufficient resources to ensure it meets the needs associated with the rating provided? If not, what steps is DHS taking to ensure it can fulfill the necessary security needs for cities hosting World Cup matches, including Miami, Florida?
With the World Cup matches expected to increase tourism to the host cities, including through major airports, how is the Transportation Security Administration and Customs and Border Protection planning to meet the increased frequency of travelers?
What steps is DHS taking to ensure state and local law enforcement partners are provided as much intelligence as possible, especially as it relates to any terrorist threat assessments connected to any World Cup-related event?
What steps is the Office of Intelligence and Analysis taking to improve real-time information sharing between the Department and state and local law enforcement agencies in the lead up to and during the United States (and Florida specifically) hosting the World Cup?
In addition to World Cup games played at Hard Rock Stadium, other U.S. sites where games will be played will be in Atlanta; Dallas; Boston; Houston; Kansas City; Los Angeles; Santa Clara, California; Los Angeles’ Seattle; and East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Along with Rubio and Scott, the letter was signed by U.S. Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar, Aaron Bean, Mario Diaz-Balart, Mike Waltz, Carlos Gimenez, Scott Franklin, and Jared Moskowitz. All but Moskowitz are Republicans.
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Publish date : 2024-09-13 09:45:00
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