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Gillette Stadium is supposed to be the site of a number of World Cup games when North America serves as one of the hosts for that international showdown this year. However, organizers have run into an issue as officials in the town the Patriots call home refuse to issue the license the venue needs to host those contests.
The World Cup will be returning to the United States for the first time in over 30 years this summer, as the country that last welcomed the tournament in 1994 will be teaming up with Canada and Mexico for the affair that will officially kick off on June 11, 2026 and wrap up on July 19th.
America boasts 11 of the 16 cities that will host World Cup games, as these venues have been selected as sites:
- MetLife Stadium in “New York” (actually East Rutherford, New Jersey)
- HardRock Stadium in Miami
- Lumen Field in Seattle
- Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia
- AT&T Stadium in Dallas (actually Arlington)
- NRG Stadium in Houston
- SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles
- Levi’s Stadium in San Francisco (actually Santa Clara)
- Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta
- Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City
- Gillette Stadium in “Boston” (actually Foxborough)
The first one on that list will host the World Cup Final, while the last one is slated to be the location for seven matches between June 13th and July 9th. It seems safe to assume soccer teams will be doing their thing where the Patriots play when everything is said and done, but those fixtures are now shrouded in a bit of doubt thanks to some local politics.
Officials in Foxborough are refusing to hand out the license Gillette Stadium needs to host World Cup matches over security costs
There are a ton of logistical issues that need to be sorted out when you’re hosting the World Cup, which includes the cost of the security that’s needed when you tackle that kind of undertaking.
According to The Boston Globe, that particular expenditure will result in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts shelling out more than $7 million for police officers and other employees who will be tasked with keeping order at those games, and at this point, it’s still unclear how that tab is going to be covered.
On Tuesday night, the Foxborough Select Board held a meeting where it tried to get to the bottom of that issue before threatening to withhold the entertainment license that Gillette Stadium needs to host the World Cup games on its schedule.
A FIFA representative who was in attendance stressed the organization had nothing to do with the payment while passing the buck to an official from the Boston 26 host committee, which is working in conjunction with the Kraft Group (which did not send a delegate) to oversee the event.
That second rep stressed they are still waiting for the federal government (specifically FEMA and the White House Task Force) to distribute the funds that will be used to cover the cost, but they were unable to provide a timeline for when the money will be officially allocated.
Vice chair Stephanie McGowan subsequently warned the parties involved to get their act together while issuing a stern warning, saying:
“We’re not prepared to issue this license unless everything is in place. I’ve seen people saying, ‘Oh, there’s no way, they won’t.’ I’m going to tell you, this board will not issue this license.”
The board won’t meet again until March 3rd, and the deadline for the license is March 17th.