European tourists get to marvel at ranch dressing and Buc-ee’s. Would-be World Cup attendees from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East? They’re getting a different experience entirely: exclusion.
Swiss forward Breel Embolo wasn’t allowed to board his team’s flight to the US because of a 2018 criminal conviction. He needed an emergency visa. The Iranian team had to move its training base from Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico, after the State Department denied visas to multiple players. Iraqi striker Aymen Hussein was detained at O’Hare for seven hours and had his phone searched. His team’s photographer was also denied entry.
Omar Abdulkadir Artan, who would have been the first Somali referee in World Cup history, was blocked despite already holding a visa. The official reason: “vetting concerns.” Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House World Cup task force, claimed Artan had been talking to “some very bad people.”
Fans aren’t spared either. One Scottish visitor had his travel authorization revoked an hour before his flight. Iran’s federation had thousands of fan tickets revoked for its three US games. Iranian player Mehdi Torabi received only a single-entry visa — he can enter for the match but can’t return.
Political scientist Jules Boykoff points out that in Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022, a World Cup ticket was essentially your visa. That’s not happening here. Despite FIFA president Gianni Infantino promising smooth travel, and the original joint bid assuring easy border crossings, the reality is far different.
“FIFA overuses the phrase ‘Football unites the world,'” Boykoff said. “Trump’s policy here very much divides the world.”
A federal judge temporarily blocked the travel ban in early June, but by then it was too late for most fans to make plans. The ACLU issued a travel advisory in April warning about arbitrary denials, arrests, and deportation.
