Cups

Can a democratic country offer a starker image than an authoritarian one when organizing a sporting event? The United States seems to be searching for the limits. With the connivance of FIFA, of course, which in recent years has awarded its most media and important sporting event to Russia and Qatar and which will repeat in this series of controversial awards with Saudi Arabia. And it has found in the United States a country that has stepped on the accelerator to catch up with what we consider authoritarian regimes. It is true that the World Cup has been used as a weapon of sportwashing since long before we knew what this meant. This has always implied a certain opening of the most reactionary policies during the time the event lasted to offer a friendlier image to the outside world. That is why it is even more surprising that the United States has barely made concessions in its way of doing politics. The competition hasn’t started yet and we already have a referee who has had to return home, public searches of players as if they were terrorists. A team that has tried to be expelled. And the constant threat towards its own citizens. Welcome to the 2026 Soccer World Cup. The World Cup in Canada, Mexico… and the United States. Hold my cubata, Qatar Standing on the shoulders and cheered by thousands of people in a packed stadium. The images of Omar Artan received as a national hero They surprise. They are surprising because Omar Artan is a referee. And I don’t think a referee has ever received such a welcome back to his country. The reason: being rejected by the United States. And Artan, a Somali, will not referee in the 2026 World Cup because one of the host countries He has not let him cross the border. The United States prohibits entry to citizens of Somalia. And he has made no exception with Omar Artan, who was going to be the first referee from his country to officiate a World Cup match and one in which, according to The CountryFIFA’s director of refereeing, the Italian Pierluigi Collina, had high hopes. The reason for the rejection?: “Concerns in the background check.” There are no more details. There are no more reasons. With those words the United States Customs and Border Protection Service (CBP) has settled the matter. Although it has been known that FIFA has tried to mediate in the matter, the organization has only issued a weak statement in which it points out that they do not have any type of influence on the migration policies of the host countries. The Artan case is the latest in a list of controversial decisions that continues to grow. In March, Donald Trump tried to intimidate the Iranian team football team, assuring that their safety could not be guaranteed if they went to the United States. Iran’s first two games are being played in Los Angeles and the third in Seattle, and the United States has toyed with the idea of ​​banning players from entering, citing national security risks. In April it was put on the table that it was Italy, out of the World Cup for the third consecutive time, which Iranian will take over but it was rejected by FIFA. In May, Donald Trump assured that he would allow the Iranian team to enter in statements in which he assured that Gianni Infantinopresident of FIFA who has been very close to the president of the United States until now, would have given him carte blanche to accept or not the Middle Eastern team. Finally, Iran will play in the United States. Yes, but his players will have to concentrate in Mexico, 15 members of the delegation have been rejected and Their fans will not be able to go to the stadium. Click on the image to go to the original tweet Click on the image to go to the original tweet Obviously, Iran is the most striking case but by no means the only one. According to BBCmore than 25% of the countries participating in the World Cup have border restrictions with the hosts. This has led to intense searches of the Uzbekistan and Senegal teams in which metal detectors, dogs and controls on the airport runway itself have been used before giving them the go-ahead. From the official account of the Senegalese team on X They assure that this procedure was carried out on the airport runway to speed up airport control procedures. However, the country’s own soccer federation indicated a few months ago that They would not send fans to the United States on an official trip because the applications had been rejected. Entering the United States is increasingly complicated for a greater number of travelers. Since 2016 to the Spanish It is not possible for us to travel to the United States without a visa if we have previously visited Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Libya, Somalia and Yemen since 2011. And from 2023 the same thing happens with Cuba if we have passed through the island in the last five years. These types of measures are those that on other occasions have been omitted in favor of give some sense of normality in sporting events that take place in authoritarian countries. In Spain we know well how the whitening of authoritarian regimes through sport works, How to bring the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia and even defend the regime and equate it with Spain, like Xavi Hernández did as coach of FC Barcelona in 2023. FIFA will take the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia, with the approval of FIFA, which created an adhoc competition for the country to win the award and overlooked any risk of attacks on human rights to the point that the candidacy has been the best score in history in a selective process. Some human rights which they also seem to want to omit with the United … Read more