Video: Thousands of Soccer Players Head to Columbus for Tournament

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COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) — In less than 24 hours, thousands of soccer players and their families will be arriving in Columbus.

This afternoon city leaders held a press conference to welcome the visitors.

Shuttles will be available in downtown for teams to use.

There will also be extra police patrols in the area.

Organizers want everyone to be prepared for the large crowd of visitors in town this weekend.

“We have to be prepared for large crowds, you know we are talking five thousand plus people into a city that is pretty small. We have to be patient with traffic. We have to be hospitable in restaurants and hotels and shops, because we are going to have a whole lot of people,” said Tournament Director Tom Velek.

120 teams will participate in the tournament, which is the largest in the state.