By Matt Rooney
The cock has crowed twice, Save Jerseyans.
First, Governor Mikie Sherrill threw her predecessor Phil Murphy under the bus over a $3 billion structural deficit. Now, she’s raising eyebrows by accusing Murphy of signing a crappy agreement with FIFA which saddles New Jersey taxpayers with substantial World Cup hosting costs as well as NJ Transit passenger blackouts and expensive train tickets. She’s pegging the transportation cost for the state at $48 million.
Mikie is in full damage control mode.
“To recap: Our Administration inherited an agreement where FIFA contributes $0 toward transportation for the World Cup – while also eliminating parking at MetLife Stadium,” Sherrill tweeted on X on Thursday, a follow up from other tweets and a video on the subject. “Except for premium parking, where FIFA is charging over $200 per spot. As a result, NJ TRANSIT must carry four times the usual ridership for events at the venue, at a cost of $48 million. New Jerseyans shouldn’t be stuck with that bill while FIFA makes $11 billion in profits.”
Remember when Sherrill gave Murphy’s tenure a “B” grade during the campaign? Oops?
Now FIFA is firing back at the Democrat governor ahead of this summer’s big event:
“We are quite surprised by the NJ governor’s approach on fan transportation.”
“The original FIFA World Cup 2026 host city agreements signed in 2018 required free transportation for fans to all matches. Recognizing the financial strain this placed on the host cities, back in 2023 FIFA adjusted the host agreement requirements across all host cities as follows: All match ticket holders and accredited individuals shall be able to access transport [public or additionally planned transport] at cost to allow travel to stadiums on match days.
“Moreover, FIFA has worked for years with host cities on their transportation and mobility plans, including advocating for millions of dollars in federal funding to support host cities for transportation.
“The FIFA World Cup will bring millions of fans to North America along with the related economic impact. Many of these fans will travel to NYNJ to enjoy the eight matches scheduled, including the FIFA World Cup final.
“FIFA is not aware of any other major event previously held at NYNJ Stadium, including other major sports, global concert tours, etc, where organizers were required to pay for fan transportation.”
The brewing controversy is made all the more confusing by the NJ Attorney General’s recent Assembly testimony wherein she contradicted the Sherrill Administration’s suggestion that they needed more money for World Cup-related security.
