FIFA president, Miami World Cup official address security, funding, Fan Fest

The World Cup is 106 days away and anticipation for the quadrennial tournament was palpable at Miami Freedom Tower on Wednesday as soccer officials addressed concerns about security and funding after participating in a panel discussion and a tour of a new FIFA museum in the landmark downtown building.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Miami World Cup 2026 co-chair Rodney Barreto joined Inter Miami managing owner Jorge Mas and Miami Dade College President Madeline Pumariega on a panel celebrating FIFA’s relationship with MDC and soccer’s impact in Miami.

Barretto said hotel bookings in South Florida are up 200 percent for June and July, during which seven World Cup matches will be hosted at Hard Rock Stadium (which will be renamed Miami Stadium during the tournament due to FIFA sponsor restrictions).

He met with reporters after the panel and denied reports that the Miami Fan Fest, a 23-day festival at Bayfront Park for fans to party and watch matches on large screens, might be canceled.

The topic arose after several host city officials, including Ray Martinez, the COO of the Miami World Cup Host Committee, expressed concerns about freezing of federal funds for tournament security during a U.S. congressional hearing Tuesday.

“We’re 107 days out from the tournament but, more importantly, we’re about 70-something days out from starting to build the Fan Fest,” Martinez said, adding that if organizers don’t get the $70 million they applied for by the end of March, they would begin cancelling events, including the Fan Fest.

Barreto offered assurance that the Fan Fest will go on.

“Our Fan Fest is happening, we’re committed to it,” Barreto said. “It’s all being staged. We have an agreement with the City of Miami, with Bayfront Park. We’re excited. We feel very comfortable all our people are well advanced in their planning and it’s all going to happen.”

The Miami Host Committee also released a statement: “Planning for the official Fan Festival, which is expected to receive approximately 30,000 fans per day, remains fully underway, reflecting the scale and global significance of the FIFA World Cup 2026.

“In close collaboration with federal, state and local partners, the FIFA World Cup 2026 Miami Host Committee remains confident that the appropriate federal resources will be allocated in a timely and coordinated manner to support tournament planning and operations.”

Barreto added that an elaborate transportation plan is in the works to help visitors navigate South Florida traffic. Details will be announced in the coming months.

“We’ve hired a large firm that’s given us a plan that’s going to take in Brightline, Tri Rail, buses, Uber, Lyft, everything,” Barreto said. “Miami is ready to roll all out.”

Infantino was asked about FIFA’s stance on hosting World Cup qualifying matches and tournament games in Guadalajara, Mexico, amid cartel violence. The play-in matches are scheduled for late March.

“Nobody has to move anything, we are in constant contact with the President of Mexico, President [Claudia] Sheinbaum, and have full trust in the authorities in Mexico and fully support them,” Infantino said.

“We live in a world where things happen, good things and bad things. We don’t live on the moon, so we need to cope with it. We are monitoring the situation, of course, but we have full confidence everything will be great. Mexico is a football country, and the Mexican authorities will do everything they can to make sure that the World Cup and the playoffs played in a month will be a celebration.”

The 48-team World Cup kicks off June 11 in Mexico City and is being co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada. The final is July 19 at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

The event Wednesday also included a guided tour of the FIFA Museum exhibit, “Unidad (Unity): The World’s Game”, which spans the third and fourth floors of the Freedom Tower and includes memorabilia and interactive stations.

Among items in the exhibit are the track jacket Brazilian legend Pele wore at the 1958 World Cup, the 1974 shirt of German great Franz Beckenbauer, a Diego Maradona jersey from 1986, a shirt worn by U.S. legend Michelle Akers at the 1999 Women’s World Cup, a replica of the Jules Rimet World Cup trophy, and the symbolic Rainbow of Shirts, displaying jerseys from all 211 FIFA Member Associations.

The museum at Miami Freedom Tower (600 Biscayne Blvd.) is open to the public Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is $18 for adults with discounted tickets for youth and students and includes the other museum installations. Admission is free for MDC students and employees with MDC ID, children 6 and under, active U.S. military, veterans, visitors identifying as disabled and their accompanying caregiver, Friends of the Freedom Tower.

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