MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Preparations are underway for a major soccer event starting this weekend in South Florida.
The FIFA Club World Cup will kick off on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium.
Noon report:
One of the big topics of discussion heading into the tournament has been security.
The Club World Cup is the first big soccer event in South Florida since last year’s Copa America disaster at Hard Rock Stadium, where hundreds of fans stormed the gates.
Related: FIFA president discusses upcoming Club World Cup matches in South Florida
On Thursday, officials with the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office addressed concerns ahead of this year’s games.
“As a result of Copa, we learned many lessons, and of course, we want to make sure that our community is safe,” said Detective Angel Rodriguez, with the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office. “There’s going to be several layers of checkpoints that are going to be enacted leading up to before you can access the stadium.”
The opening match of the Club World Cup will see Inter Miami play Al Ahly Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium, the first of several games set to be played in Miami Gardens.
“If you don’t have a ticket, if you’re not a vendor, if you don’t have a legitimate reason or purpose to be there, please, simply stay away from the stadium,” said Rodriguez.
Local 10 also reached out to U.S. Customs and Border Protection regarding security at the event, and they responded with the following statement:
“U.S. Customs and Border Protection is committed to working with our local and federal partners to ensure the FIFA Club World Cup 26 is safe for everyone involved, as we do with every major sporting event, including the Super Bowl. Our mission remains unchanged.”
In a recently-deleted post, U.S. Customs and Border Protection posted on Instagram that they were “suited, booted and ready” to provide security for the games.
It left some online to wonder if border agents would be doing immigration checks.