With the FIFA World Cup set to open Thursday across the U.S., Mexico and Canada, President Donald Trump’s administration has refused an entry visa to Omar Artan, a soccer referee from Somalia who was scheduled to officiate matches in the tournament. |
U.S. immigration officials blamed the refusal on “vetting concerns.” But it’s hard to escape the suspicion that Artan’s nationality played a role, given how often President Donald Trump and other administration officials have publicly expressed racist views of Somali immigrants in Minnesota as well as of the country and its inhabitants. |
Artan himself shares that suspicion. He told The New York Times that border officials at the Miami airport interviewed him for 11 hours before turning him away. “I had the right papers and everything. I had the right visa,” he said. “I think that they have a problem with my country.” |
The move comes days after the U.S. belatedly issued visas to Iran’s national team, but under strict conditions that would require the team to travel to its U.S.-based matches and return to its training camp in Mexico on the day of each match. The U.S. also refused entry to multiple members of the Iranian team’s technical staff. |
Over the past week, most of the other teams that qualified for the tournament had already arrived at their allotted training facilities in the three co-host countries, and they have now all finished up their last preparation matches. But the visa controversies have highlighted the degree to which this year’s World Cup is inseparable from the global politics of the Trump era, casting a pall over the opening week. |
Indeed, with just two days to go before the much-anticipated four-yearly tournament begins, one thing seems to be lacking: fan enthusiasm. In numerous conversations I’ve had here in the U.K. and on social media, people have expressed surprise at how little excitement seems to have built up compared to past editions of the World Cup. Though admittedly anecdotal, the sense of lowered public interest is backed up by disappointing ticket sales, with about 15,000 tickets still available for direct purchase from FIFA and 176,000 seats available on resale platforms for the group stages—and prices plummeting. Hotel bookings—particularly for U.S. host cities—are also underperforming. |
A number of reasons can explain the underwhelming turnout. FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, has been roundly criticized for exorbitant ticket prices. In addition, its decision to expand the tournament to 48 teams, up from 32 for the past seven editions, has perhaps increased representation, but at the cost of quality, further reflecting the organization’s penchant for putting the bottom line at the top of its agenda. |
Finally, there’s a case to be made that there is simply too much soccer these days. Between league play, club and regional championships and the Olympics, there is no longer any real off-season. The resulting fatigue is showing up not only among fans in the run-up to this year’s World Cup, but also in the bodies of the world’s elite players, in the form of injuries. |
But while all of these elements are contributing to the pre-World Cup malaise, it’s hard not to attribute at least part of it to a global backlash in public perceptions of the U.S. under Trump. While Trump’s trade wars and disruptive use of U.S. military power are significant drivers of that backlash, so too is his administration’s draconian anti-immigration campaign. In fact, soon after that campaign was launched and accounts of abuses of even legal residents and visa-holders became commonplace, many global observers expressed concerns over America’s ability to host an event that draws visitors from around the world—including fans and players from countries routinely targeted by U.S. immigration officers for profiling. |
In the intervening months, Trump administration officials have shown their willingness to hijack collective events and commemorations to advance the White House’s policy agenda and promote its revisionist histories. Just last weekend, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used his remarks at the D-Day commemoration to portray immigration as an enemy invasion, implicitly—and confusingly—comparing migrant boats that arrive on European shores to the Allied forces that landed on the beaches of Normandy in 1944. |
Fears that Trump would weaponize the World Cup gathered momentum in February after the U.S., along with Israel, attacked Iran, whose national team was already set to play its matches in America. Mexico helpfully volunteered to host the team’s training camp, seemingly smoothing that potential wrinkle. |
But those fears have nevertheless now materialized, and the entry ban on Artan, who just last year was named referee of the year by the governing body of African football, adds to the perception of pettiness. It’s possible and even likely that once the matches begin, fan excitement will pick up and anticipation will build ahead of the final, scheduled for July 19 in New Jersey. But if so, it will be despite the Trump administration’s efforts, not because of them. |