{"id":2576,"date":"2022-11-17T11:40:04","date_gmt":"2022-11-17T16:40:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.alumni.ncsu.edu\/?p=2576"},"modified":"2022-11-17T11:40:04","modified_gmt":"2022-11-17T16:40:04","slug":"safety-is-his-goal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/2022\/safety-is-his-goal\/","title":{"rendered":"Safety Is His Goal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
As the U.S. men\u2019s national soccer team prepares to take the field at the FIFA World Cup, which begins this weekend in Qatar, the team\u2019s fans will be watching with varying degrees of anticipation and angst. Nick Prieto \u201907 will also be watching, but he will be less concerned about whether offensive star Christian Pulisic is scoring goals and his teammates are playing strong defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prieto, 38, will be watching to make sure the players and coaches \u2014 as well as any U.S. fans or media members who travel to watch the games in person \u2014 stay safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As as special agent with the State Department\u2019s Diplomatic Security Service, Prieto is overseeing an operations center that brings together a grab bag of federal agencies \u2014 from the FBI to the TSA \u2014 in Doha, Qatar, to ensure the safety of the players and staff with the team, corporate sponsors from the U.S., members of the news media covering the team, and other citizens who will be in Qatar for the six-week run of the World Cup. The operations center will also deal with issues ranging from lost passports to American citizens involved in traffic accidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n