Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 30, 1993 TAG: 9306010186
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
It's estimated that soccer's premier festival - played over one month at nine stadiums starting June 17, 1994 - could have an economic impact exceeding $4 billion on this country. Already, through a private sale for the soccer who's who in this country, the World Cup USA committee has sold about 600,000 tickets to early round games - about 150,000 more than the pre-sale prediction.
Another 600,000 will go on sale to the public via toll-free phone lines in mid-June, and for later rounds, a lottery will be held because of the demand for seats. The closest ticket to the Roanoke Valley also will be the toughest ticket. Because RFK Stadium in Washington is the smallest venue, only about 5,000 tickets will be available to the public.
Qualifying for the quadrennial event began with 141 nations. To date, four of the 24 teams are known - the United States, defending champion Germany, Mexico and Greece. With the world's largest single-sport event, World Cup USA is expecting Europe's soccer hoodlums to show up, and with them the potential for violence.
How seriously is World Cup USA taking precautions? Well, the largest line item in the '94 World Cup budget is for security. A spokesman for World Cup USA said the security costs will exceed the $80 million spent on policing the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
About 15 percent of the Cup tickets will be sold through FIFA, soccer's governing body, in Europe, and the Cup committee expects about 1 million foreign visitors next summer. There is a good possibility that some travelers will be sent back to their planes at U.S. Customs.
Last October, World Cup USA gathered representatives of security forces at the FBI Training Academy in Quantico. Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies from the nine Cup cities met with security experts from England, Germany, The Netherlands, Italy and Sweden - nations that have been host to major soccer events in the recent past and had first-hand dealing with hooligans.
During the 1990 World Cup in Sardinia, British soccer gang members battled police and a rival Italian gang. In Milan, German thugs spent one night making a window-smashing trip through downtown. Last summer, fans of the English national team rioted in Sweden at the European Championships.
Unlike European soccer stadiums, the facilities in this country do not have large fences to separate rival rowdies - although the possibility of construction hasn't been dismissed. The World Cup USA organizers also are considering a ban on alcohol sales at all venues.
World Cup organizers are working with U.S. State Department, intelligence and immigration officials. Chances are that any soccer fans with police records will be turned away at customs, and the World Cup security force has a list of about 50 reasons a passport may be refused. The plan also deals with the potential political terrorism as well as soccer hooligans.
Besides RFK Stadium, the World Cup sites are Chicago's Soldier Field, Giants Stadium in suburban New York, Foxboro (Mass.) Stadium, the Pontiac Silverdome, Orlando's Citrus Bowl, Stanford University Stadium outside San Francisco, the Cotton Bowl in Dallas and the Rose Bowl - site of the July 17 final - in Pasadena, Calif.
In Orlando, the Orange County sheriff's department has asked for $10 million for World Cup security. That would cover extra deputies, gas masks, tear gas, riot shields and a $140,000 tank for helping control crowds. The sheriff said that, from a security standpoint, being host to two rounds of the World Cup is equal to having five Super Bowls at the 70,000-seat Citrus Bowl.
There are other plans to help control crowds, too. The World Cup will position the top six teams as seeds in the 24-team field, then draw the other 18 nations' names from a glass jar to fill the tournament bracket. Security also will have no small part in the scheduling process.
Although World Cup organizers are somewhat reluctant to discuss security as it ties to venues, it is likely that any game with a high-risk security factor will be played at a suburban site - like Foxboro or the Silverdome. It's doubtful the World Cup would send the fans of an England-Germany game, for example, into the hustle and bustle of New York City.
World Cup USA organizers say they will be prepared to protect the reputation of their sport in the host country. Soccer's growth in the United States has been dramatic. High school soccer participation has more than doubled since 1980. More U.S. colleges field soccer teams than football teams.
With a get-toughs policy, the World Cup plans to make sure that soccer puts its best foot forward on U.S. soil.
\ World Cup Champions
YEAR, WINNER, SITE
1930 Uruguay, Uruguay
1934 Italy, Italy
1938 Italy, France
1950 Uruguay, Brazil
1954 W.Germ., Switz.
1958 Brazil, Sweden
1962 Brazil, Chile
1966 England, England
1970 Brazil, Mexico
1974 W.Germ., W.Germ.
1978 Argentina, Arg'tina
1982 Italy, Spain
1986 Argentina, Mexico
1990 W.Germany, Italy
by CNB