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    - Photo via Federacion Costarricense de Futbol - |
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Published on Tuesday, June 14,
2022
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
If Costa
Rica’s Men’s Soccer National Team wins
the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup
qualification game against New Zealand
today, there is a high possibility
that Ticos fans will invade the
streets in a massive celebration that
could disturb public areas, police
warn. To
prevent these massive celebrations
from blocking public zones such as
streets, parks or bridges, police
announced a preventive surveillance
operation for today. According
to the Ministry of Transportation, in
the special operation are
participating police officers,
municipal officers and traffic
officers. They are surveying the
country's public zones to reduce the
risk of accidents and fatalities in
the face of a possible wave of people
celebrating if the Costa Rica team
wins the match.
Among the
places where most soccer fans
traditionally gather are the
Hispanidad Bridge, in the
San Pedro District, the downtown San
José Central Park, Sabana
Central Park, National
Stadium and
almost every community central park
throughout the country.
According
to Alexander Solano-Quirós, director
of the Traffic Police, the operation
is not aimed at banning access to main
streets. The goal is to regulate the
passage of vehicles and pedestrians
through public areas. Pedestrians
and drivers could be diverted to
alternative routes away from the
crowds to avoid vehicle jams, he said.
In
addition to the regulation of
traffic, the surveillance
operation includes actions to
detect traffic law offenses,
such as vehicles parked in
prohibited areas, drunk drivers,
speeding drivers, drivers or
passengers not using safety
devices, vehicles overloaded
with passengers and
motorcyclists riding without
helmets, among others, police
warned. Today's
game will be held at noon (Costa
Rican time) at the Ahmad Bin Ali
Stadium, in Doha, Qatar. The
winner is ensured a return trip
to Qatar in November, joining
Spain, Germany and Japan in
Group E. To
allow Ticos to enjoy the match,
the government authorized public
institutions' employees to take
an extra hour off their lunch
break so they can watch the
match that will be televised on
6 and 7 local channels. Costa
Rica team fans living in the
U.S. will be able to watch the
game on TV channels NBC Universo
and Telemundo. While worldwide
the game will be streamed at 2
p.m. ET on the app TSN.ca. In
the previous match to
qualify for Qatar, in
March, Costa Rica Team won
over USA 2-0. This
year marks the 22nd anniversary
of the FIFA World Cup. The
international tournament is the
quadrennial men's football
championship played by the
national teams of the member
associations of FIFA. The
competition is scheduled to take
place in Qatar from Nov. 21 to
Dec. 18.
------------ What teams are you picking for the Soccer World Cup? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com
  
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