Khaberni - Media reports confirmed that a last-minute intervention by American billionaire Robert Kraft saved the England vs Ghana match in the 2026 World Cup from cancellation.
Transfer News Live on Twitter clarified that after a severe crisis that almost threatened the staging of several tournament matches at Gillette Stadium near Boston in the United States.
The anticipated match between England and Ghana was under threat of cancellation or relocation to another venue due to a significant financial dispute between local officials, stadium management, and tournament organizers over who would bear the operational service costs during the match hosting period.
The dispute focused on an amount estimated at about six million pounds allocated to cover costs of security, safety, human resources, and infrastructure. Initially, the stadium owners insisted on not paying these costs, affirming that the stadium would be handed over to FIFA for thirty-nine days during the tournament, which made the financial responsibility unclear for them.
In contrast, the Foxborough municipality and the nonprofit organization Boston Soccer 2026 both refused to bear the expenses or pass them on to local taxpayers, leading the crisis to escalate to the point of warning of the withdrawal of the stadium’s license to host World Cup matches.
If that had happened, FIFA would have had to relocate seven matches scheduled at this venue, including the England vs Ghana match and two matches for the Scottish team, which would have caused significant disruption in the tournament schedule.
As the final deadline set by the Foxborough council on March 17 approached, the Kraft Group led by billionaire Robert Kraft intervened and agreed to cover the financial gap, which ended the crisis and cleared the way for continuing plans to host matches at the stadium.
Under this agreement, Gillette Stadium is expected to host several matches in the 2026 World Cup, including a Scotland vs Haiti match on June 13, and another match between Scotland and Morocco on June 19, in addition to other matches in the tournament schedule.
