SEATTLE — City officials are using recent Super Bowl celebrations and NFL playoff games as a test case in preparing for the large crowds and international fans that the FIFA World Cup matches will bring to Seattle.
The World Cup matches in Seattle are scheduled to run from June to July this upcoming summer.
The coordination effort will bring together traditional first responders and organizations like FIFA to manage the city’s overall emergency operations strategy that will encompass the city and the region as a whole.
Seattle will activate a unified command center at its Emergency Operations Center for the six upcoming World Cup matches, according to the Deputy Director of Seattle’s Office of Emergency Management, Andrew Stevens.
Stevens said the city intends to gather the same personnel who managed recent large-scale events.
While traditional management includes police, fire, transportation, and sanitation departments, the World Cup will include a broader range of organizations. Stevens emphasized the necessity of including groups that do not typically serve as first responders.
“It is important as a city to bring in all the external stakeholders that are involved in this as well. We’re going to see that with FIFA, we’re going to have coordinating committees, the waterfront district, Seattle Center, and a lot of people that aren’t traditionally first responders,” he said.
Stevens said international soccer matches and NFL championship celebrations are almost mirror images that are helping in the planning. He noted that Seattle has the infrastructure to manage the anticipated volume of visitors.
“You’re going to see with FIFA games, it’s kind of like our (NFC) championship game. We have large-scale capacity,” added Stevens.
Emergency management is also preparing for specific crowd behaviors observed during the recent Super Bowl victory parade. During that event, fans arrived in the city gradually over several hours, but dispersed within minutes of the conclusion. Officials expect this pattern to repeat during the World Cup, making crowd control a primary focus, even if total attendance numbers are smaller than the victory parade for the Seattle Seahawks.
Despite the complexity of the event, Stevens said he expects the existing coordination between partners to mitigate the pressure on city resources.
“I don’t think we’re going to see as big of a strain, but we are going to see the same partners in the EOC coordinating,” Stevens said.
The scheduled matches in Seattle include:
- June 15 at noon: Belgium versus Egypt (Group G)
- June 19 at noon: United States versus Australia (Group D)
- June 24 at noon: Qatar versus UEFA Playoff A Winner (Group B)
- June 26 at 8:00 p.m.: Egypt versus Iran (Group G)
- July 1: Round of 32 Match 82
- July 6: Round of 16 Match 94
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