“Blatter blamed Donald Trump’s aggressive foreign policy and massive tightening of immigration controls.”, — write: sport.unian.ua
Blatter blamed Donald Trump’s aggressive foreign policy and massive tightening of immigration controls.
Blatter was forced to leave the post of FIFA president in 2015 after one of the biggest corruption scandals in the history of football / photo – wikipedia.orgFormer FIFA president Sepp Blatter said that soccer fans should refrain from traveling to the United States for the 2026 World Cup, which will be held this summer, Fox News writes.
Why Blatter urged fans not to go to the USA for the 2026 World CupThe reason for the draft, as Blatter noted, is the aggressive foreign policy of US President Donald Trump and the large-scale tightening of immigration controls, which can make trips to America dangerous for foreign fans.
“There is only one piece of advice for the fans – stay away from the USA! I think Mark Peet is absolutely right to question the hosting of this World Cup,” 89-year-old Blatter wrote on the X social network.
It is explained that Mark Peet is an anti-corruption expert and law professor who in 2013-2016 chaired the Independent Governance Committee as part of the FIFA reforms. In an interview with the Swiss publication Der Bund, he urged soccer fans to stay away from the United States.
Pete added:
“You’ll see everything much better on TV. And upon arrival, fans should expect that if the officials don’t like them, they’ll be immediately put on the next flight back. If they’re lucky.”
As the media will point out, this year the USA will host the World Cup together with Mexico and Canada: the matches of the tournament will take place from June 11 to July 19. At the same time, after the 1/8 final stage, all remaining games will be played on the territory of the United States.
Trump’s policies have led to calls to boycott the 2026 World CupTrump’s position on Greenland, the publication adds, has already led to calls to boycott the World Cup. In particular, one of the heads of the German Football Association Oke Gottlich said:
“I’m really asking the question, when will the moment come to think seriously and start a concrete conversation about it. For me, that moment has already come.”
In addition, the actions of agents of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in American cities, in particular in Minneapolis (Minnesota), against the background of the death of two US citizens and immigration raids, are causing criticism.
“The country is in a state of deep turbulence. What we’re seeing inside the country – the marginalization of political opponents, abuse by immigration authorities and much more – has absolutely no fans for the ride,” Pete emphasized.
He compared the “security situation” in the US to Mexico, where drug cartels have threatened violence ahead of matches in Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey. In his opinion, the United States is becoming more and more authoritarian.
At the same time, the mass media draws attention to the fact that Blatter was forced to leave the post of FIFA president in 2015 after one of the biggest corruption scandals in the history of football, related to fraud using electronic means of communication, racketeering and money laundering. He was replaced by Gianni Infantino, who is said to be close friends with Donald Trump. And Infantino said that the organization expects “from 5 to 10 million people who will come to America from all over the world to enjoy the World Cup.”
The US State Department, in a comment to Fox News Digital, announced that it is launching a system of priority appointments for visa interviews for fans of the World Cup – FIFA Priority Appointment Schedule System (FIFA PASS). It will allow match ticket holders to get priority access to visa procedures before the start of the tournament on June 11.
Prospective applicants must prove they meet visa requirements, intend to abide by US law and leave the country after the tournament ends on July 19.
The article recalls that Trump talked about the FIFA PASS program back in November. According to him, the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security are “working tirelessly” to ensure that “soccer fans from around the world are properly vetted and can come to the United States next summer without any problems.”
“I have instructed my administration to do everything possible to make the 2026 World Cup an unprecedented success. I think it will be the biggest, and we are already setting records for ticket sales,” Trump said.
Because of Trump, the 2026 World Cup in the USA will be held partly behind empty standsIt will be recalled that the suspension of the issuance of American visas to citizens of third world countries will leave football teams without the support of fans during the World Cup, which will be held in the USA, Canada and Mexico. It dashed the hopes of fans of two of Africa’s leading soccer nations to support their teams in the stadium – Senegal and Ivory Coast were added in December 2025 to the list of countries whose citizens were restricted from entering the United States.
At the same time, the suspension of issuing visas does not apply to players, officials and the closest relatives of team members.
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