The chief operating officer of Miami’s FIFA World Cup host committee has warned that it may be forced to cancel its official fan festival this summer unless it receives funding from the United States federal government within the next 30 days.
During a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Tuesday, Joseph Mabin, the deputy chief of Kansas City Missouri Police also warned that Kansas City’s “drop-dead date” is “immediate”, with host cities across the country awaiting the release of a combined $625 million in funding to assist security and preparations for the World Cup.
The host cities secured the funding within President Trump’s domestic policy bill last summer, which he coined as the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill”. Yet the funding is still to be administered via the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the agency which has been tasked with processing the grant scheme.
Ray Martinez, COO of the Miami host committee, explained to the hearing that the task of organizing and securing a 23-day FIFA Fan Fest, in addition to seven World Cup games at Hard Rock Stadium, represents an “immense” challenge.
“We’ve never handled anything like this,” said Martinez, who previously served on the Miami Super Bowl Committee ahead of Super Bowl LIV in 2020. “We are used to working on major events here in South Florida and Miami, but a 23-day fan festival in downtown Miami and at City Park is something that has never been tried and never been done.
“We’re expecting hundreds of thousands of people to come to South Florida to be part of the games,” he continued. “We understand that not everybody’s going to get into the stadium, so the fan fest is going to be the location where people are going to go to enjoy the matches.
“On top of that, there will be regional watch parties across the three counties and across the state of Florida. Therefore, coordination is critical, as is making sure that information is shared and goes across jurisdictional lines.”
Miami will host seven matches at the Hard Rock Stadium (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Miami has requested around $70m of the $625m allocation, according to Rep. Andrew Garbarino, who chairs the Homeland Security Committee.
Under questioning, Martinez said Miami is yet to receive any of this funding. He was then asked to clarify if Miami’s host committee has a “drop-dead date” for which they would have to start cancelling things if the money does not arrive.
“We’re quickly approaching that,” Martinez said. “We’re 107 days out from the tournament, but more importantly, we’re about 70-something days out from starting to build the Fan Fest. These decisions have to be made.
“Generously I said that within the next 30 days is the drop-dead date. I know that the local agencies are very anxious, but without receiving this money, it could be catastrophic for our planning and coordination.”
Martinez confirmed any further delays would make it very challenging to prepare security for key sites. “We (will) have to start making some really tough decisions and it starts with our Fan Fest,” he said. “Obviously the matches up at the stadium will take place, but preparing for all the impromptu events and watch parties that we’re expecting to see will be in jeopardy.”
Kansas City, meanwhile, is due to receive $59m of the allocation, but its deputy police chief said that it, too, has not yet received its funding.
Mabin said: “The drop-dead date is immediate. We need commitments from partners to help supplement our officers just because of the scope, scale and duration of the games. They need assurances that they will get reimbursed for overtime, for travel expenses and for lodging. So we need that information right now.”
House Republicans on the Committee claimed that the processing of the funds may be impacted by the current government shutdown which has impacted the Department of Homeland Security, as Democrats attempt to secure restrictions on federal agents involvement in immigration enforcement across the country. FEMA is an agency that falls under DHS.
Republican Rep. Carlos Gimenez claimed that “the people that are supposed to be processing the grants are not essential and therefore not working.” He claimed that the money therefore may not come until the government re-opens and said: “I hope that that doesn’t mean that there’s going to be some kind of tragedy happening in the United States, because the government and DHS itself is closed now.”
The Athletic has contacted FEMA for comment but did not receive a response by the point of publication. An automated email said that the lapse in federal government funding means that its media enquiries inbox may not be actively monitored at this time.
Bayfront Park, which has also hosted the F1 Festival, is where Fan Fest is planned to be held (Michael Reaves/Getty Images for Red Bull)
The risk to Miami’s Fan Fest is just the latest drama surrounding the events in various host cities. Last week, the official FIFA Fan Fest for the New York/New Jersey area was cancelled, with organizers now seeking a new location just four months before the men’s World Cup begins in June. The newly-elected New Jersey governor Mikie Sherrill, who entered office earlier this year, made the decision to pull the event from Liberty State Park. Seattle has also scaled back activations while the San Francisco Bay Area is considering a significantly reduced approach to official fan festivals in the region after being allocated a group stage draw that is short of leading nations or highly marketable star names.
The town of Foxborough, home to the Gillette Stadium for the host city of Boston, is also threatening to withhold an entertainment license from the World Cup if it does not receive the $7.7m required for security funding during the tournament. Organisers are awaiting the federal funding to reconcile the differences.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Democrat Rep. Nellie Pou pressed Miami executive Martinez about the potential threat of ICE involvement at the World Cup. Earlier this month, ICE acting director Todd Lyons said that the agency would have a “key role” during the tournament, although he said its main function would be assisting with homeland security investigations.
Pou, however, warned Lyons that the involvement of ICE threatened to turn people away from the event, if people fear immigration enforcement activities could take place. She is a representative of the ninth district of New Jersey, which includes East Rutherford’s MetLife Stadium — the host venue for the World Cup final.
She asked Martinez for a “yes or no” answer as to whether he was concerned about potential ICE involvement at the tournament.
“Not at the moment,” he said. “No.”
She also asked whether the host committee has established any process to inform family members or legal counsel in the event a fan is detained by ICE during a World Cup game at Hard Rock Stadium or at a FIFA fan event.
He said: “We have been in constant communication with our federal partners, and we have received no indication of immigration enforcement that will be taking place during the tournament. We are laser focused here at the Miami Host Committee to provide a safe and secure event. The only thing I can base it on is recent experiences during the last year of our major events, which includes the College Football National Championship, Formula One and the Club World Cup — we did not experience any ICE enforcement activity as described.”