The United States has tightened inspections and restricted access even for people involved with the World Cup on the eve of the start of the tournament. The greater rigor reinforces the Donald Trump administration’s anti-immigration policies and has generated criticism from fans.
FIFA (International Football Federation), organizer of the event, avoids commenting on the issue and claims not to be involved in the immigration processes of the host countries. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security say decisions are made on a case-by-case basis.
So far, the main people affected are people linked to the teams of Iran, Iraq and Uzbekistan, as well as a referee from Somalia. Some of these countries are among the targets of the immigration restrictions adopted by the Trump administration.
This Tuesday (9), the FFIRI (Football Federation of Iran) said that its quota of tickets had been revoked a few days before the start of the World Cup. The decision leaves Iranian fans who had already made travel plans without the possibility of attending the team’s games.
In a statement, the federation stated that it had already started the process of selling tickets for matches, but would no longer be able to provide them to fans.
Each federation participating in the World Cup receives 8% of the tickets for each of their matches to distribute to fans according to their own criteria.
Furthermore, the North American government granted visas to the players, but not to all members of the coaching staff. Around 15 members of the delegation received a refusal, including the president of the Iran Football Federation, Mehdi Taj.
Iran’s football team, which is concentrated in Mexico for the 2026 World Cup, will travel to the United States a day before its debut against New Zealand.
Previously, the Iranian ambassador to Mexico had stated that his country’s team would have to enter and leave the United States on the same day as their matches.
Another nationality affected by North American migration restrictions was Somali. On Monday (8), the USA barred referee Omar Artan from entering. He was among the 52 referees selected to serve in the competition, which will be held in the USA, Mexico and Canada.
Artan would be the first Somali referee to referee a World Cup edition and was denied entry into the country after more than 11 hours of interrogation. “I think they have a problem with my country,” he said in an interview, denying he had any visa-related problems.
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a statement that “after inspection, the traveler, a FIFA World Cup referee, was deemed inadmissible due to security concerns and was denied entry.”
When contacted, FIFA said that “it is not involved in the immigration process of host countries, including the granting of visas”.
The Uzbekistan national team was also subject to inspection. The team will be in group K.
The technical committee led by Italian coach and former world champion Fabio Cannavaro was welcomed by sniffer dogs and metal detectors (see the moment below) before the friendly against the Netherlands on Monday (8), which took place at Icahn Stadium, in New York:
On Saturday (6), Iraqi striker Aymen Hussein was subjected to an interrogation lasting almost seven hours at O’Hare airport in Chicago, according to a national team spokesperson. The player scored the goal that guaranteed the team’s qualification for the World Cup.
Hussein was eventually released, but the delegation’s photographer was barred from entering the United States.
The Donald Trump government’s anti-immigration policy has limited access to the country and caused waves of deportations of irregular immigrants.
There is fear that this process will intensify during the World Cup. In a document released in April, more than 120 North American organizations warned foreign fans, players and journalists about significant risks of human rights violations if they traveled to the United States during the tournament.
In the document, entitled “Notice to Travelers”, the entities draw attention to the possibility of arbitrary denial of entry into the country, detentions without legal guarantees, deportations and inhumane treatment in the context of the immigration policy adopted by President Donald Trump’s government.
Somalia and Iran were among the countries affected by entry restrictions imposed by the Trump administration. The measure was suspended by a federal judge in the district of Rhode Island, in the United States, last Friday (5). In the decision, John McConnell considered that the policies left people from dozens of countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East in an “indeterminate legal limbo”.
