When the World Cup soccer tournament begins Thursday, a Central Illinois congressman will see nine years of work begin to pay off.
U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, who represents parts of Bloomington-Normal and Greater Peoria, co-chairs the Congressional Soccer Caucus. That's a group of about 40 lawmakers who have an interest in soccer. LaHood has nine colleges and universities in his district that have men's and women's soccer teams. His three children played growing up. And the U.S. Soccer Federation has been based in Illinois for the last quarter century.
LaHood got involved in the World Cup back when the U.S., Canada and Mexico were just organizing a bid to get the tournament. In an interview with WGLT, LaHood said he's happy to see the work come to fruition.
“It's a big deal for the United States. It will be the largest sporting event in the history of the world. We will have, what I tell my colleagues, will have 104 Super Bowls in 39 days; 11 venues in the United States. It'll have a $30 billion impact on the United States over these 39 days,” said LaHood.
This year the tournament has expanded to 48 teams, up from 32 in the edition four years ago. LaHood said it sets the stage for the next decade of sports diplomacy in the U.S. The Los Angeles Olympics in two years, the Rugby World Cup in 2031 and Women’s World Cup Soccer also in 2031 hosted by the U.S, Mexico, Costa Rica and Jamaica.
“What we've been doing, working on the visa waiver applications, what we're doing on security for the 11 host cities, anti-drone technology, all these things go into making it the safest, most secure World Cup for fans and spectators,” said LaHood.
A year ago, visa waiting times for non-waiver visa countries ranged up to 700 days. It’s now five days, following the creation of a FIFA visa application, so-named after the soccer world governing body.
“Over 85% of the countries now will be able to get a visa to come to the United States; that's a good thing. We streamlined that process, working with the State Department and working with Homeland Security,” said LaHood.
LaHood said he’s not sure whether the Iran war and adverse international reaction to some of the diplomatic and economic actions taken by the Trump administration will reduce World Cup attendance.
“I think sports transcends politics. I think the World Cup transcends politics. I think most people want to watch their country play. They're not worried about politics, and they shouldn't be, similar to our country. When we watch college football, or college basketball or a Super Bowl, you have Republicans and Democrats rooting for their teams, and they're not talking about politics, they're talking about the game and the competition,” said LaHood.
A year ago, LaHood voiced concerns about host city readiness. Some of the cities in which games will take place have managed big events before. Others have not. LaHood said much progress has happened and he no longer has any worries.
“We allocated in a bipartisan way $650 million last summer in legislation that I helped pass, along with another $500 million for anti-drone technology,” said LaHood. “The 11 host cities have done an awful lot of work to build out their perimeters around the stadium and make sure it's fan friendly, and so I think we're positioned well.”
He cautioned it is not possible to plan for lone-wolf attacks or one-off acts, and that is a concern with any event.
“But right now I think we're in the best position possible to have a safe and secure World Cup, and welcome the world to America, and Canada, and Mexico,” said LaHood.
He noted the anti-drone preparations will build safety capacity for subsequent major sporting events.
Ticket prices have been high, and public reaction has been negative about the way FIFA has managed ticket sales. LaHood said he still has some concerns but believes ticket prices will come down.
“We had the same thing happen last year with the Club World Cup, a little smaller event run by FIFA. Prices were very, very high. They ended up coming down and were very reasonable. You're seeing that happen already, and so I think the free-market system will allow tickets to come to a lot lower prices,” said LaHood.
LaHood said depending on the congressional schedule he will try to attend some games but will watch them remotely in any event.
