In the winter of 2022, a record 1.5 billion people tuned into the FIFA World Cup Final. Additionally, nearly 3.5 million people made the journey to Qatar to watch the games in person, making the tournament one of the most popular sporting experiences in the world.

In 2026 the World Cup will welcome millions more fans to games in 12 cities across North America. One of the individuals responsible for ensuring the safety of both players and fans is G.B. Jones, Chief Safety & Security Officer of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

One of the major threats to security at the World Cup, as well as many major sporting events around the world, is drones. Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) such as drones can carry harmful objects, disrupt games, and be hard to detect, all of which GB and his team are aware of before the World Cup begins in June 2026.

Before the World Cup, G.B. will attend and speak at IDGA’s Counter UAS Summit this August 27-28 at the Marriott Crystal Gateway Hotel in Arlington, Virginia. Before the event, G.B. sat down with IDGA to discuss how his team is preparing for UAS threats at the World Cup and how they plan to mitigate them.