Santa Clara is contemplating authorized motion in opposition to the 49ers administration firm, claiming the company hasn’t turned over crucial info to assist town put together to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Final June, FIFA introduced Levi’s Stadium can be one in every of 16 U.S. venues to host the 2026 World Cup. However at this week’s Santa Clara Metropolis Council assembly, Mayor Lisa Gillmor stated the 49ers — who handle non-NFL occasions on the city-owned stadium — failed to fulfill a Feb. 1 deadline set by the Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury to supply town with key paperwork associated to the 2026 World Cup.
With three years to go earlier than the key occasion involves Santa Clara, the council is contemplating subpoenaing the 49ers or utilizing different authorized strategies to pry the paperwork free if they will’t acquire them within the subsequent month or so.
Whereas the group did flip over some paperwork, Gillmor stated they didn’t embody details about town’s necessities.
“Different communities that will probably be internet hosting World Cup occasions have been engaged on their World Cup preparations — some so long as 18 months,” she stated. “Others have a minimum of a 12 months. They’ve devoted employees for these occasions. Many are massive cities, we’re not. We've got much less employees than after we hosted Tremendous Bowl.”
In a letter learn aloud throughout Tuesday’s assembly, Santa Clara Police Chief Pat Nikolai stated the division “doesn't have crucial info relating to this occasion particularly because it pertains to public security.”
Nikolai stated his division nonetheless wants info on the subject together with the stage of safety wanted, the kind of safe perimeter required and the way a lot safety can be wanted at motels the place officers or groups had been staying.
“These are important issues that must be addressed sooner moderately than later,” Nikolai stated. “Utilizing Tremendous Bowl 50 for example, many of those particulars had been recognized three years upfront, permitting ample time to arrange for the most important occasion ever held at Levi’s Stadium.”
With the 49ers eyeing a bid for Tremendous Bowl 60 in 2026, as nicely, Nikolai is apprehensive concerning the pressure it will placed on the division.
Metropolis Legal professional Glen Googins stated town is about to fulfill with each the 49ers and the Bay Space Host Committee for the World Cup on April 19.
When requested to touch upon the council’s potential authorized motion, the 49ers referred the Mercury Information to a Bay Space Host Committee spokesperson who stated they're “dedicated to transparency and have already supplied metropolis employees with supplies relating to the bid.”
“We look ahead to persevering with to work with metropolis employees on the remaining paperwork to make sure that proprietary info is protected,” the spokesperson added.
The choice to take potential authorized motion over the World Cup comes six months after the Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury launched a scathing report titled “Unsportsmanlike Conduct,” which criticized the group’s political affect on town — notably 5 councilmembers who the 49ers meet with repeatedly.
The 61-page report particularly particulars issues raised by former Metropolis Supervisor Deanna Santana in February 2022 over the price and different unfavorable impacts the World Cup might have on Santa Clara. In line with Measure J — a 2010 poll measure that helped set up the stadium — town is answerable for public security prices for non-NFL occasions. The civil grand jury report cited one estimate for town’s World Cup invoice that exceeded $15 million.
Santana was additionally involved about potential conflicts of curiosity as 49ers President Al Guido additionally serves on the Bay Space Host Committee.
She was fired two days later.
The civil grand jury report said that the previous metropolis supervisor’s issues had been “warranted,” and outlined a set of suggestions — together with requiring the group to supply “a report on the standing of the commitments made to the FIFA occasion” — that ought to have been applied by Feb. 1.
The council will revisit the problem subsequent month and determine what authorized steps to take based mostly on the end result of pending conversations between town, the 49ers and the Bay Space Host Committee.