L.A. Soccer Has Two Years of Work to Go : 1994 World Cup: Rose Bowl officials plan to make most of the major renovations by the ’93 Super Bowl.
Monday’s announcement that Los Angeles will have eight games in the 1994 World Cup soccer tournament, including the final, held little suspense for officials here. The announcement in Zurich affirmed more than four years of work by the local bid committee, but also signaled the beginning of more work.
The Rose Bowl was praised by FIFA and World Cup ’94 organizers as the largest of the nine host venues, but it was also singled out as one of three sites expected to undertake major renovation before the 24-nation tournament begins June 17, 1994.
Ross Berlin, venue coordinator for the World Cup organizing committee, said from Zurich that his group and the local organizers will report to FIFA by Sept. 1 on the status of the improvements to the 70-year-old stadium.
Bob Holden, general manager of the Rose Bowl, said most of the changes will be made in time for the 1993 Super Bowl, which will also be played in Pasadena.
Among the changes FIFA has requested are expanding the playing field to 75 yards wide, and renovations and additions to the press box, locker rooms, restrooms and concession areas.
Holden said 1,300 seats will be removed to widen the field and 600 seats will be needed to accommodate the media.
Holden said that 75% of the construction costs will be borne by the World Cup organizing committee.
Few new details emerged from Monday’s announcement, other than cheering from local officials at their windfall. The eight-game award is one game more than the city’s original bid had asked for.
“We’ve been anticipating this day for a long time,†said John Bryson, president of the Los Angeles organizing committee. “We are delighted. We have felt from the start that the Rose Bowl was the right place to host the final.â€
The Rose Bowl’s eight games are more than any other city will have. In a departure from the usual scheduling, Los Angeles will have more than a week of soccer, including one of the semifinal games, the third-place game and the final.
Another change from tradition was awarding the final to any city other than the host nation’s capital, which had happened only once in the 60-year history of the Cup.
Bryson acknowledged that the Los Angeles bid had a decided edge since the nine venues were announced March 23. The Rose Bowl was the scene of the successful soccer competition during the 1984 Olympics, which accounted for one-third of the total tickets sold during the Games.
Another factor was L.A.’s status as home to the 1994 World Cup organizing committee, which has headquarters in Century City. The chief executive officer of the organizing committee is L.A. lawyer Alan Rothenberg, who is also the president of the U.S. Soccer Federation. Rothenberg was the commissioner of soccer during the 1984 Olympics.
Many other key figures in the USSF and the 1994 organizing committee also are from L.A.
Bryson said that despite the apparent home-team advantage: “They said all along to us that they would bend over backwards not to favor us.â€
The only glitches in the bid process occurred during the recent riots. Rothenberg said that security became a concern for some FIFA members, but that adequate measures had been taken by the Los Angeles bid committee.
A group from the committee left for Zurich Monday night to meet with FIFA officials.
