Calls Grow To Boycott World Cup in America as Trump Policies Stir Global Backlash

Calls to boycott the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup matches in the United States are growing louder around the globe as international soccer officials and political figures raise concerns about the policies of the Trump Administration.The United States is co-hosting the World Cup with Canada and Mexico from June 11-July 19. Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter is the latest high-profile figure to express concerns about Mr. Trump’s expansionist approach on Greenland, travel bans imposed to countries who qualified for the World Cup, and the administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement that has led to two deaths of American protestors in Minnesota.Mr. Blatter, who served as FIFA president from 1998 until being suspended amid corruption allegations in 2015, questioned the suitability of the United States as a host country. “For the fans, there’s only one piece of advice: stay away from the USA!,” he posted on X. “I think Mark Pieth is right to question this World Cup.”Mr. Pieth, a Swiss attorney and anti-corruption expert, chaired the Independent Governance Committee’s oversight of FIFA reform a decade ago when Mr. Blatter was suspended in connection to a U.S.-led investigation into bribery, money laundering and racketeering involving senior FIFA officials.Mr. Pieth advised World Cup fans to “Stay away from the USA! You’ll see it better on TV anyway. And upon arrival, fans should expect that if they don’t please the officials, they’ll be put straight on the next flight home. If they’re lucky.”Concerns have also spread within European soccer leadership. A vice president of the German soccer federation, Oke Gottlich, told a Swiss newspaper, “The time has come” to “seriously consider” a U.S. boycott.” Mr. Gottlich drew an historical comparison to the U.S.-led boycott of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow due to Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan.“What were the justifications for the boycotts of the Olympic Games in the 1980s?” Mr. Gottlich said. “By my reckoning the potential threat is greater now than it was then. We need to have this discussion.” In the United Kingdom, Conservative Member of Parliament Simon Hoare said English, Scottish and Welsh teams should consider boycotting the event, in order to “fight fire with fire,” while a member of the French parliament, Eric Coquerel went further suggesting the tournament be moved out of the U.S. and played only in Canada and Mexico.“Seriously, can we really imagine going to play the footie World Cup in a country that attacks its neighbors, threatens to invade Greenland, undermines international law, wants to torpedo the UN, sets up a fascist and racist militia in its country, targets opposition groups, prohibits fans from around 15 countries from attending the Cup,” Mr. Coquerel wrote on X.FIFA has resisted any notion of a boycott and announced earlier this month it has received more than 500 million ticket requests for the World Cup. Outside of the hosts the most requests were made from Germany, England, Brazil, Spain, Portugal, Argentina and Colombia.The most requested match was Colombia vs. Portugal on June 27 at Miami Gardens followed by Mexico vs. South Korea on June 18 at Guadalajara, Mexico and the final on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.Ticket pricing ranges from $8,680 for lower tier seats at the final to $60 seats allocated to national federations for distribution to supporters. Most standard seats range between $150 for upper tier seats to $500-$800 for lower tier seats.Meanwhile, the World Cup and the 2028 Olympic Games are among a host of athletic competitions the Trump administration has classified as “major sporting events” that athletes and coaches will be allowed to travel to the U.S. to take part in despite the broad visa band of 39 countries and the Palestinian Authority.The events that are covered, including “all competitions and qualifying events” for the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Pan-American Games, and Para Pan-American Games; events hosted, sanctioned or recognized by a U.S. National Governing Body; all competitions and qualifying events for the Special Olympics; and official events and competitions hosted or endorsed by FIFA, soccer’s governing body, or its confederations.The exemption also will cover official events and competitions hosted by the International Military Sports Council, the International University Sports Federation and the National Collegiate Athletic Association as well as those hosted or endorsed by U.S. professional sports leagues such as the National Football League, the National Basketball Association and Women’s National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball and Little League, National Hockey League, Professional Women’s Hockey League, NASCAR, Formula 1, the Professional Golf Association, Ladies Professional Golf Association, LIV Golf, Major League Rugby, Major League Soccer, World Wrestling Entertainment, Ultimate Fighting Championship and All Elite Wrestling.Foreign spectators, media and corporate sponsors planning to attend those events would be banned unless they qualify for another exemption.Of the 39 countries, a full travel ban applies to Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Mali, Myanmar, Niger, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Yemen, and people with Palestinian Authority-issued passports.A partial ban is in place for citizens of Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burundi, Cuba, Dominica, Gabon, Gambia, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Mauritania, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Togo, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Calls Grow To Boycott World Cup in America as Trump Policies Stir Global Backlash

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