$8 Million Question Threatens FIFA World Cup Matches At Patriots’ Stadium | EUROtoday

The seven World Cup matches scheduled to be performed this summer time on the dwelling of the New England Patriots proceed to hold within the steadiness as city leaders in Foxborough, Mass., wait to search out out who will cowl practically $8 million in projected safety prices.

The Select Board in Foxborough won’t approve the licenses wanted for FIFA to occupy the stadium with out a assure the city won’t be caught with the invoice. The board, at its Feb. 17 assembly, stood agency on the sticking level, and no progress seems to have been made.

The window to concern the licenses is closing shortly. The city has set a March 17 deadline to approve the licenses, given the preparation time wanted to implement the safety plan.

Although there are solely seven matches, together with a quarterfinal in Foxborough, safety is required by occasion organizer FIFA to safe Gillette Stadium for all 39 days of the World Cup.

The occasion begins June 11 and concludes July 19. Matches are scheduled to be performed all through the U.S., in addition to in Canada and Mexico.

Foxborough estimates the associated fee at $7.8 million, and the city board members stated they won’t saddle taxpayers within the small group with the invoice. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates Foxborough has practically 19,000 residents.

Congress has authorized $625 million in funding for safety and preparedness for the 11 host cities within the United States, however the places have but to see it. Part of the reason being the partial authorities shutdown that has impacted the Department of Homeland Security. It is the umbrella group over the Federal Emergency Management Agency ― FEMA ― that may hand out the money.

The stadium is owned by The Kraft Group, based by Patriots proprietor Robert Kraft, and the city owns the land underneath it. The group goes via the identical course of to get licenses for each the Patriots and the New England Revolution, the Kraft-owned MLS workforce. The Kraft Group pays required funds up entrance, and the board expects World Cup organizers to comply with swimsuit.

“The money has to be here. We’re a small town,” stated Stephanie McGowan, vice- chair of the Select Board, on the latest assembly. “This is almost 10 percent of our whole annual budget. How does anybody expect that we would (lay out the money) for someone (FIFA) who’s coming into our town for 39 days, making all these demands, and then you guys go away?

“We cannot do that to our taxpayers. We would not be responsible.”

FIFA despatched representatives to the Feb. 17 assembly, however they didn’t give the board the assurances it sought.

“I gotta be honest with you, it baffles my mind that you guys are sitting here in front of me right now and how we still have no idea where this money’s coming from,” board member Mark Elfman stated.