Back in 2017, during Trump’s first term, Infantino had suggested a US travel ban on citizens from six majority-Muslim countries was incompatible with tournament regulations, and could invalidate the country’s hopes to host the tournament in 2026.
“It’s obvious when it comes to Fifa competitions, any team, including the supporters and officials of that team, who qualify for a World Cup need to have access to the country, otherwise there is no World Cup,” he warned.
And yet, as a result of the immigration policies implemented by Trump during his second term in office, there will be four competing countries – Iran, Haiti, Senegal and Ivory Coast – whose fans have faced full or partial travel bans, with the White House referencing a need to manage security threats.
In fact, analysis of travel data by the BBC shows that fans from more than a quarter of the 48 countries taking part in the World Cup are facing travel bans, tighter restrictions or high visa rejection rates.
It was only last month that visitors from Algeria, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Cape Verde and Tunisia were granted exemptions from having to pay a deposit of up to $15,000 (£11,000) before obtaining a US visa.
At the weekend, the International Sports Press Association complained about “a long-standing and unacceptable problem for us journalists – the denial of entry visas to regularly accredited colleagues”.
And on Monday, Fifa said that Omar Artan, who was set to be the first Somalian to referee at the World Cup finals, had been dropped from the list of officials after he was denied entry to the US. No reason was issued by US immigration authorities, but Somalia is one of several countries on a travel ban list introduced by the Trump administration.
“This is a tournament where players, fans, and officials are not walking in free of risk, if they can get in at all,” according to Craig Foster, a former captain of Australia’s ‘Socceroos’, and now a rights campaigner.
“For a sport that has trumpeted its commitment to its own human rights policy for a decade now, that is nothing short of disgraceful.
“This should obliterate the idea, that has still been somewhat prevalent in the world, of a separation between politics and sport. Unlike any other sporting tournament I can recall in modern times, this is a deeply politicised World Cup.”
