US security officials on alert for World Cup ‘lone wolf’ attacks

WASHINGTON: World Cup matches in the 11 US host cities will be “very secure”, the country’s top official overseeing tournament security said Thursday, though he voiced concern over lone wolf attacks, especially in public areas.

“We feel like we’re as safe as we can possibly be. But we can’t control, you know, the lone wolf,” Markwayne Mullin, head of the department of homeland security, said on “Fox and Friends”.

“You have the issue with what we call the soft area, which is before you get into the security ring that we’re very concerned about,” he said, hours before the start of the tournament that the US is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico.

Mullin said local and state law enforcement officers will be “flexing” in those areas to ensure crowd safety.

“The games are going to be very secure,” he said.

The tournament, which kicks off Thursday in Mexico with a match-up between the hosts and South Africa, will see 78 of its games played in the US.

For Americans more accustomed to their home-grown version of football, Mullin made a comparison to highlight the interest in the global extravaganza.

“Seventy-eight Super Bowls in 38 days. We will have crowds bigger than the Super Bowl,” he said. “We have 250 million people that watch the Super Bowl, we’ll have 1.4 billion watch the Fifa games.”