FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — Framingham has one of the largest Brazilian populations outside of the country itself, and many residents won’t hesitate to tell you that they love soccer.
“Because I am Brazilian, I love soccer. It’s a BBQ, samba, music, a big party! Brazil loves this!” Daniel Rodriguez said with a smile on his face.
While they are counting down the days until the world cup matches reach the commonwealth, city officials are turning down the opportunity to host a public watch party and the money that comes with it.
City officials decided not to apply for the funding after the chief of police flagged safety risks.
“This is a matter of public safety,” Chief Lester Baker told the city council.
The mayor says there are also money concerns associated with hosting, especially if there are extra costs that come with the party and keeping it safe.
“Based on a recommendation from the Police Chief, the City of Framingham decided not to apply for state funding to host a public World Cup watch party or City-sponsored celebration. The recommendation was made due to identified public safety and security concerns due to large crowd size events,” Mayor Charlie Sisitsky told Boston 25 news.
The mayor also explaining that a lot of the funding available is likely being sent to Boston and Foxborough.
“Additionally, there was uncertainty regarding the availability of external funding, which could have resulted in the City bearing the full cost of the event. This City decision does not restrict or prohibit privately organized watch parties from our businesses or others in the community,” he added.
Some people disagree with the decision.
“I think that’s a big mistake. Yeah, I think the more we have inclusion the better we are and that’s going to bring a lot of people and you know some people are bad people but it’s mostly good people,” Albert Bonfatti explained.
“I think it would be great if they, you know,allowed it. I don’t know what their problems are, or what they are afraid of,” another woman said.
The chief says it’s not about excluding anybody or banning celebrations. Instead, he compared the world cup matches to hosting seven super bowls, on top of all the summer events already planned for greater Boston plus all of the fourth of July celebrations.
He explains that local, state, and federal resources will be stretched thin covering all of the events.
“Not only do you have to secure Foxborough and Boston, you have to secure hotels, dignitaries from all of these countries that are going to be bringing in teams, and families and royaltyt...hey have to be secured, your base camps have to be secured, all of the different offsites and hotels have to be secured.”
“As your chief, I’m not going to plan an event hoping for nothing happens, I’m going to plan an event thinking that the worst can happen, and have I thought of everything and have I done everything to prepare for the worst. And I’m not saying because the crowd is going to be the worst... everyone’s going to come out and celebrate but what happens if something bad happens and I planned for the ‘what if?’ I can’t live like that,” he said.
Though the city council flagged large private celebrations will be happening anyway, the chief says those are accounted for in his safety plan.
“By no means do we think that we are not going to have celebrations. We want our community to be happy we want them to celebrate, and we will do it as safety as possible,” he explained.
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