PEORIA, Ill. – The World Cup gets underway on Thursday…and one Central Illinois legislator helped bring the Beautiful Game to North America.
16th District Congressman Darin LaHood (R-Dunlap) serves as co-chair of the Congressional Soccer Caucus.
LaHood says the sport is very important to him and his family.
“I have three sons that all played soccer growing up in Peoria. And, so soccer has been a big part of our life. I’m proud that the president asked me to step up, and be a part of the World Cup Committee,” LaHood says.
For the first time, the World Cup is being co-hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
Another first, the field is being expanded from 32 to 48 teams.
“It’s a big deal for the United States. It will be the largest sporting event in the history of the world. I tell my colleagues, we will have 104 Super Bowls in 39 days; at 11 venues across the United States,” LaHood says.
LaHood adds, that means there will be a $30 billion impact on the U.S. economy over the next 39 days as well.
LaHood says security has been a priority in gearing up for the World Cup. Some host cities have never held such big events before.
“We allocated $650 million last summer in legislation that I helped pass, along with another $500 million for anti-drone technology,” LaHood says. “The host cities have also done a lot of work to build out their perimeters to make sure the venues are safe for the fans.”
LaHood says you can’t rule out a lone wolf attack, or one-offs, but he believes the U.S. is in the best possible position to have a safe World Cup run.
With his congressional schedule, LaHood isn’t sure how many games he will be able to attend, but he hopes to see the U.S. team go far in the World Cup. If he can’t be there in person, LaHood says he can watch the matches on TV.
With the exposure of this year’s World Cup, LaHood says millions of U.S. kids will be inspired to start playing the sport for the first time.
To learn more about the World Cup schedule, click HERE.
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