Will Trump’s travel ban mean forfeiting hosting the World Cup?
The organization’s president recently said, ‘Teams who qualify…need to have access to the country.’ Requirements for the bidding process are currently being created.
Trump’s latest iteration of what many call the “Muslim ban,” which denies entry to the United States to non-U.S. citizens coming from six majority Muslim countries, has caught the ire of soccer’s international governing body.
FIFA—which is no stranger to scandal itself—said that the travel ban will hurt the U.S.’s chances of hosting the 2026 World Cup.
The U.S., which hasn’t hosted a World Cup since 1994, is considered a favorite to host the upcoming event, which is the world’s most-watched sporting event.
FIFA’s president, Gianni Infantino, told foreign reporters: “Teams who qualify for a World Cup need to have access to the country, otherwise there is no World Cup. That is obvious.”
The ban currently calls for foreign nationals from six majority-Muslim countries to be denied entry to the U.S. for 90 days, and for all refugees to be banned for 120 days. Similar to its predecessor, the administration’s most recent ban is being challenged in U.S. courts.
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