As the World Cup kicks off tomorrow, security is kicking into high gear in Brazil’s 12 host cities. The country is spending $850 million to provide 24-hour security for the 32 national teams, fly drones over the stadiums, monitor airspace with helicopters and planes, and patrol the streets with military and riot police.
I reported about security prep in host city Manaus – where England plays Italy this Saturday – in a long-form narrative published across Americas Quarterly, Zocalo Public Square, and Smithsonian Magazine. I attended a soccer match at the newly built $300 million Arena da Amazônia, where the chief of security told me he had been watching all my movements as I entered the stadium:
During the second half, I made my way up to the security control room, escorted by two members of the military police. There, in an extra-large luxury box high above the field, I met Igor Menezes Cordovil—who will oversee all city security during the World Cup (FIFA itself is in charge of security inside all stadiums). The white-walled room was filled with desks and computers and security monitors with feeds from 107 cameras inside the stadium and 50 cameras around the perimeter.
“Intelligence services saw you,” Menezes told me. “They asked me who you were.”
