First Minister John Swinney will attend a series of meetings with US business leaders during his trip to Boston for Scotland’s first World Cup game as a guest of the Scottish Football Association.
Ahead of representing Scotland and the Scottish Government at the match against Haiti, the First Minister will be welcomed by Mayor Michelle Wu at Boston City Hall.
He will also meet the governor of Massachusetts Maura Healey ahead of hosting a Brand Scotland reception in partnership with the SFA. It will celebrate Scottish culture, tourism, innovation and food and drink.
The meetings will focus on strengthening cultural and economic ties between Boston and Scotland, specifically cultivating partnerships in shared areas of interest including finance, education, healthcare and biotechnology. Mr Swinney will tour Harvard University with the University Marshall.
This evening he will attend a special dinner and gala event, hosted by the David Yarrow Foundation in aid of Street Soccer Scotland, which will include an on-stage Q&A involving the comedians Fred MacAulay and Greg Hemphill.
Minister for Sport, Maree Todd, will attend the Scotland v Brazil match next week. Economy, Transport and Tourism Secretary Stephen Flynn and Community Care minister Alison Thewliss have been given special permission to attend the World Cup in a personal capacity.
The trip has not been without controversy with Tory MSP Stephen Kerr accusing Mr Swinney of hypocrisy after the First criticised Tory MSPs Murdo Fraser and Dean Lockhart for flying to Spain to watch Rangers play in the Europa League final during the Holyrood term.
Mr Kerr said: “Hard-pressed taxpayers shouldn’t be footing the bill for John Swinney’s trip to go and join the Tartan Army across the pond.
“It’s the height of hypocrisy given he couldn’t wait to express his outrage at other MSPs previously for doing exactly what he is going to do.”
There has also been a backlash to revelations that the Scottish government made a £400,000 donation to a Scottish football fan who is walking 3,000 miles across the US to attend the Boston match.
Craig Ferguson set off from Los Angeles in February and aims to raise £1 million for Scottish Action for Mental Health (SAMH).
Mr Swinney said he “was struck by his tenacity, ingenuity and genuine passion – both as a Scotland fan and a campaigner for mental health.”
While accepting it was a worthy cause there were questions on social media about the donation, not least from other fund-raisers.
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