Angola attack won’t impact security for US World Cup trip to South Africa

Angola attack won’t impact US WCup security

NEW YORK — Last week’s attack in Angola that killed three members of Togo’s delegation at the African Cup of Nations won’t change U.S. security arrangement’s for this year’s World Cup in South Africa.

Togo’s assistant coach and team spokesman were killed during the ambush of Togo’s team bus in Cabinda last Friday, as was the Angolan bus driver.

“It seems now, from everything I’ve read, that what happened in Angola has nothing to do with the sporting event or the fact that it was a soccer team,” U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati said Wednesday during a telephone conference call.

Officials have said the attack was related to local political conflicts.

The World Cup, which starts June 11, is being played in Africa for the first time. The U.S. team routinely travels with security from the State Department, and additional government agencies were added after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Security is part of planning for the U.S. bid to host the World Cup again in 2018 or 2022.

“These major sporting events can be targets,” Gulati said. “So we’re very conscious of the security issues. We don’t talk a lot about them in detail for fairly obvious reasons. The federal government and state authorities and law enforcement authorities as well as military authorities are involved now in any bid anywhere in the world, and that not just for international events, but that’s for the Super Bowl or any large gathering of people.”