Trump's World Cup racism reveals true nature of U.S.

• On the eve of the tournament, immigration issues have emerged as an obstacle to a World Cup that was awarded to North America in 2018 with promises of inclusivity. The event is now being threatened by concerns of restrictive entry into the US that FIFA has continually played down.
• Scores of journalists, mainly from the Middle East and Africa, have failed to get clearance to cover the World Cup. 
• Omar Abdulkadir Artan, a Somali referee was among a select group of about 50 World Cup referees, was also detained. Immigration officials questioned Mr. Artan, placed him in a holding cell and then deported him.
• Iran’s fate at the World Cup has been shrouded in uncertainty ever since the US and Israel began a joint assault on the country. Iran’s players were finally issued entry visas for their games in the US, but more than a dozen team officials and staff members have had their applications rejected. 
• Iran’s World Cup squad has been informed that they must leave and enter the US on the same day as their matches, and will not be allowed to stay for any period of time in the US. Iran is the only team in the entire FIFA 2026 World Cup that will be forced to travel back and forth, and will spend their time in Mexico instead.

• Iran said Tuesday that its allotment of World Cup tickets for its three group stage games had been pulled off the market. Iran's first game of the 2026 World Cup is on June 15. In a statement obtained by Reuters, its soccer federation said that it had begun selling tickets to the three games but those tickets are now no longer available.
• Uzbekistan's team (with sizable Muslim contingents) was surprised to see security officials waiting for them as they stepped off a bus before a tune up game against the Netherlands in New York. The players were subjected to searches with metal detectors. The Dutch team did not face the same searches.  
• “What is happening to players and staff and fans coming to the US for the World Cup is representative of the horrors millions of people in the US are experiencing under this regime,” said Tanya Greene, the US program director for Human Rights Watch. “It’s as if the administration wants to keep the world out of the World Cup.”
• Mother Jones reports: “The Trump administration has a record of denying international athletes visas, including members of an Ethiopian delegation to the World Athletics Cross Country Championships, whose 44-year medal streak was broken by a mass visa denial in January. Multiple Cuban sports delegations have also been locked out of sports competitions since 2025 by the US’ refusal to grant them visas—including Olympic qualification events.”
• This hostile policy extends to fans, with the US (until so recently that it was too late) requiring people from 50 ‘developing’ countries to post $5,000–$15,000 bonds for a visa. The countries include Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Tunisia. Haitian and Iranian fans are effectively banned from the competition. Meanwhile everyone else has to submit their social media records to a nation committing genocide, to see if they’re too vocal about it. 
• Israel has killed over 1,000 Palestinian athletes and staff and murdered dozens of footballers, including Suleiman Obeid (the Palestinian Pele). Israel recently arrested Natalie Abu Dayyeh and Rand Al Halawini of the Palestinian women’s national team. This is obscene, yet Israel is still allowed in FIFA competitions.  
• FIFA is facing an unexpected problem: ticket sales. The governing body still has roughly 180,000 unsold seats across host cities in the US, Canada, and Mexico. The gap is raising fresh concerns about empty stadiums and the optics for soccer’s biggest tournament.