Bergen County officials lay out safety & improvement plans ahead of 2026 FIFA World Cup
State, county and local officials, including law enforcement, outlined a safety plan to classify all the games as a Level 1 Special Event Assessment Rating (SEAR) event.
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The 2026 FIFA World Cup is less than two years away, but security is already top of mind. Eight matches are set to be held at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, including the final.
"It puts the little town of East Rutherford on the map, you know, in front of the whole world,” said East Rutherford Police Capt. Stan Rymarz. “So we're excited and we're looking forward to the challenge.”
State, county and local officials, including law enforcement, outlined a safety plan to classify all the games as a Level 1 Special Event Assessment Rating (SEAR) event. This designation will help acquire federal funds needed to get resources to keep the event safe - like paying for additional overtime for officers or advanced safety equipment.
This rating is given to events like the Super Bowl or Kentucky Derby that are of national or international importance. Right now, only the final is designated as a Level 1 SEAR-rated event.
"These dollars will help with bomb detection, counter-drone measures, tactical response teams, reinforcing critical infrastructure and essential utilities, police escorts, road closures, and transit safeguards across our urban systems and airports," said Rep. Josh Gottheimer.
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But safety at the stadium isn't the only concern, according to officials.
"Making sure guys are available, not taking time off of work. Making sure they are assigned to their certain posts around town...Although the stadium is in our town we still have our residents that we have to be concerned about so we can't assign all of our resources to one area we still have the town to take care of," said Rymarz.
Officials say that while they have been preparing for the safety for months, they have also been working to improve congestion for the upcoming games.
"We're actually improving some of the intersections around here. We just worked with the state to move $25 million for a new pedestrian bridge," said Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco.
Officials say the games will positively benefit the county with many people shopping, dining and lodging in the area, bringing in around $3 billion and creating 14,000 jobs.
