Hope Trump gets the welcome he deserves.
From The Guardian:
US Secret Service staff are conducting individual body and bag searches of every fan attending the World Cup final leading to concerns that all of the 82,500 ticket holders may not get into the ground before kickoff.
Defending champions Argentina’s meeting with Spain at the New York/New Jersey Stadium has been designated as a National Special Security Event due to the attendance of US President Donald Trump, with the highest level of security measures put in place.
A US Secret Service agent told The Guardian that every fan will be searched as well as being subject to airport-style security. Thousands of US Secret Service agents are on duty with helicopters flying overhead five hours before kickoff.
“Everyone will be thoroughly searched,” one agent said. “It’s going to be an interesting day.”
A huge line of matchday operational and media staff had begun queuing to get into the stadium at 8am, with the crowd swelling to around ten thousands by the time the gates opened at 9am.
All staff were funnelled through one entrance, with just two stewards employed to scan accreditation passes before a further queue to access six airport scanners followed by the individual body searches.
Celebrities were not spared the searches with Jürgen Klopp, who is working as a pundit for German streaming service Magenta before replacing Julian Nagelsmann as Germany coach at the end of the World Cup, among those resigned to spending hours in the queue.
Most fans who have paid thousands of dollars to attend, with some tickets still being listed for sale at $34,500 yesterday, have yet to arrive but will face lengthy queues.
Trump is due to arrive on his helicopter, Marine One, in the hour before kick-off with his attendance at the final where he will present the trophy to the winning team adding complications to what was already a logistically challenging event for Fifa.
The New York/New Jersey Stadium is famously inaccessible, a problem compounded by the fact that the price of New Jersey transit trains from Manhattan have been increased to $98, which will add to traffic congestion.