The NGO Amnesty International warned of the “serious risks” for populations and fans during the 2026 World Cup, especially in the United States, where it sees the “scenario of a human rights crisis”.
“Under President Donald Trump’s mandate, the United States, where three quarters of the World Cup games will take place, is the scene of a human rights crisis”, highlighted Amnesty in a statement, which accompanies the report “Humanity must triumph” and which was released this Monday (30).
This “crisis” is “marked by discriminatory immigration policies, mass detentions and arbitrary arrests by masked and armed agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection and other agencies”, Amnesty accused.
“Despite the staggering number of arrests and deportations, neither FIFA nor the (US) authorities have provided assurances to fans and local populations that they will be protected from ethnic and racial profiling, indiscriminate raids and illegal detention and deportation,” said Steve Cockburn, director of Amnesty International’s Economic and Social Justice programme.
The 2026 World Cup, which will be played from June 11th to July 19th in the United States, Canada and Mexico, will have a total of 104 games, 78 of which will be played on American territory.
Countries like Iran —whose participation is in serious doubt due to the war situation—, Senegal or Ivory Coast could see the presence of their fans prevented by travel bans imposed by the Trump administration, which made immigration policy one of the emblems of its second stint in the White House.
Other football fans are exposed to “intrusive surveillance” of their social networks to “search for anti-American content”, the NGO estimated.
Furthermore, “members of LGBTQI+ groups in the United Kingdom and Europe declared that it would be dangerous for their presence to be visible during the tournament”, guarantees this pro-human rights organization, which also expresses concern about restrictions on the right to demonstrate and freedom of expression in Mexico and Canada.
“With just ten weeks to go until the start of the World Cup, FIFA’s commitment to organizing a tournament in which everyone feels ‘safe, included and free to exercise their rights’ requires urgent action to ensure that this beautiful competition does not end with a bad result,” said Amnesty.
