Scotland fans have been assured their team’s World Cup games will be going ahead in Boston as planned despite a funding dispute which has cast doubt over the fixture schedule at Gillette Stadium.
The 64,000-capacity venue, home to the NFL’s New England Patriots, is due to host seven matches in the tournament including Scotland’s opening Group C fixture against Haiti on June 14 and their clash with Morocco five days later.
However, the town of Foxborough is refusing to grant Fifa’s licence to host the games as it waits for more than $7 million from the sport’s governing body for the appropriate safety measures – it was due to be paid months ago.
Foxborough, which has a population of around 18,000, is located around 20 miles from downtown Boston.
Concerns had been growing that the stance of the town’s Select Board could throw the Tartan Army’s plans to attend Scotland’s first World Cup in 28 years into disarray. However, Maura Healey, the governor of Massachusetts, has moved to allay those fears.
She said: “The World Cup’s going to happen – it is going to be in Massachusetts. It’s going to be great to have people come from all over the world and see our awesome state.
“I know that my team continues to stay in touch with local officials on all of this. There’s certainly funding that we’re awaiting from the federal government right now. It’d be a lot easier if the federal government provided the funding that they were supposed to provide.
“That hasn’t happened yet. But, you know, we’ll continue to work through all of this with local officials and all of the relevant parties.”
After facing Haiti and Morocco, Steve Clarke’s men travel to Miami to complete their group fixtures against Brazil on 24 June.
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