COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Tribune News Service) -- Last month U.S. Northern Command hosted more than 200 people in a two-day "11 Cities Summit" at Hotel Polaris in Colorado Springs in support of the White House Task Force on the FIFA World Cup.
Participants included representatives from the WHTF, FIFA, the 11 host cities, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice/FBI, and the Department of Health and Human Services, among others.
The FIFA World Cup men's soccer tournament will be hosted across North America with 78 matches scheduled between June 11 and July 19. Mexico and Canada will also be hosting matches, making for a total of 16 host cities and 104 matches across 34 days. It is the first time the tournament is hosted by three nations.
"We are less than 150 days from the largest sporting event in history," WHTF Executive Director Andrew Giuliani said in his opening remarks. "When you think about the amount of people who watched the draw -- 800 million people -- compare that to the Super Bowl next month in the range of 100-150 million people. You realize the world will be watching the United States of America for the World Cup over our 250th birthday."
The summit at the new north entrance to the Air Force Academy served as a venue for host cities, states and federal agencies to "establish a shared understanding of host city plans, federal capabilities and the processes for requesting and providing federal support to ensure the safe and successful execution of the World Cup matches," according to Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander of NORAD and USNORTHCOM.
DHS is the primary agency for the security design, planning, and implementation for FIFA World Cup matches held in the United States, and Colorado Springs-based NORAD and USNORTHCOM, upon request, will provide support for DHS for "safe and secure matches."
The first day of the summit included remarks by Guillot and Giuliani followed by interagency briefings. The second day consisted of exercises in which summit participants discussed how they would address two hypothetical scenarios.
"We are now in the execution phase," Giuliani said. "The very fact that all of you are convening here just outside a military base in Colorado demonstrates that federal support is operational, integrated and actively being delivered. Right before our eyes we can see our planning become action. This summit is our opportunity to validate our plans and put them under a stress test."
Giuliani's last time in Colorado Springs was in 2016 during President Donald Trump's campaign, and he noted the beauty of the city by making a joke about the conference room blinds covering the view of Pikes Peak.
"Guess this is so we can focus because everyone would be looking at the mountain because it's truly stunning," Giuliani said in his opening remarks, spurring laughs.
Giuliani also answered questions from the media, including the WHTF's goals for the upcoming tournament.
"We want to make sure this is a safe World Cup," Giuliani said. "If it's a safe World Cup, it's going to be a successful World Cup. Next we want to make sure it's as welcoming as possible. We've done everything we can to reduce visa wait times. It's down to two months for Argentina and two weeks for Brazil.
"We want to make sure that everyone goes through the exact same checks you would have to, but that as many people that are coming here can go through that process, can get vetted, and if they are cleared can come to enjoy the United States and the World Cup."
Miami-Dade County sheriff Rosanna Cordero-Stutz also addressed the security failures at Copa América last year and how that helped in the preparation for this year's FIFA World Cup in which Miami will be hosting seven matches at Hard Rock Stadium.
Copa América saw 54 people arrested after thousands of fans rushed that stadium ahead of a match between Argentina and Colombia.
"We learned some tough lessons with Copa but what happened was kind of a blessing in disguise," Cordero-Stutz said. "It opened our eyes to how us and the United States needed to really prepare for something like the World Cup and we did that. We immediately trained intelligence, relationships, and that's the importance of what we are doing today—the continuation of those relationships for intelligence, for threats, and how we are going to handle them. Not just globally but locally with local law enforcement."
The entry period for the random selection draw ended with more than 5 million fans expected to attend the 104 matches. The WHTF on the FIFA World Cup 2026 will measure success by having no major incidents and the focus being on the sport rather than the people involved.
"Our commitment is simple: we will do everything in our power to make these games, this tremendous World Cup, a safe and successful one," Giuliani said. "The key to that is ensuring federal support is coordinated, prioritized, and accessible. The world will be watching and the United States will be ready."