England World Cup base to get extra security, say Kansas City officials
Kansas City officials will erect fencing and close roads in order to prevent England from being spied on at their World Cup camp this summer.
England will be based in the Missouri city throughout the tournament and will train at Swope Soccer Village, a $20m facility located in the middle of a public park.
The local World Cup organising committee hopes to open some training sessions to the community but is taking steps to restrict access for the rest of England’s stay.
“There are some fencing considerations that are being put into place there. There are some traffic control measures,” KC2026 CEO Pam Kramer told CityAM.
“It’s a huge park, so it’s not like things are right on top of each other. We feel really good about both the security plan that the team and Fifa have for the facility and our public safety plan around that.”
Why England World Cup base is in Kansas City
The Football Association picked Kansas City to be England’s base despite not being scheduled to play any games there as its central location eases access to all other host venues in the US, Mexico and Canada.
KC2026’s budget of more than $100m, including federal, state and private funding, has avoided any of the delays in finalising security experienced by other organising committees.
“Safety and security is our first, second and third priority, and the federal funding was critical,” Kramer added.
“While that was going on, planning continued. So for probably two and a half years, I think there are now close to 400 people involved in security planning in Kansas City alone. That is local, state, federal, international collaboration and cooperation. It is a complex, coordinated effort.
“There are 18 areas of focus that the security teams are organised around, everything from police escorts for the teams and other dignitaries to the Fifa fan festival.”