Rose Bowl Is Given Passing Grade by Soccer Officials for World Cup

Soccer officials began a two-week tour of World Cup stadiums Tuesday with an inspection of the renovated Rose Bowl, which received passing grades.

Eight games, including the final, of the 1994 World Cup will be played at the Rose Bowl. Twenty-eight representatives of international soccer, television and marketing interests viewed the stadium’s upgraded press box and luxury boxes, which were praised by officials from FIFA, soccer’s international governing body.

Additional construction will begin in February and will include the removal of some seats to accommodate the widening of the field to international specifications.

The work is expected to be completed by next September, before the start of UCLA football.

FIFA officials are also discussing security preparations with World Cup 94 organizers, but Guido Tognoni, a FIFA spokesman, said that reports of hooliganism have been exaggerated and that he didn’t expect any problems during the event in the United States.