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Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter says soccer fans ought to keep away from traveling to the United States for the 2026 World Cup this summer time.
Blatter’s reasoning? His perception that President Donald Trump’s worldwide aggression and immigration crackdown throughout the nation makes it harmful for fans traveling abroad.
Blatter cited Mark Pieth, an anti-corruption skilled and regulation professor who oversaw the Independent Governance Committee throughout FIFA’s reform from 2013-16. Pieth spoke with Swiss outlet Der Bund, the place he informed soccer fans to, “Stay away from the USA!”
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FIFA President Sepp Blatter gestures throughout a press convention on the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland on March 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
“For the fans, there’s only one piece of advice: stay away from the USA!” I feel Mark Pieth is correct to query this World Cup,” Blatter, 89, tweeted on Monday.
Pieth added in his interview: “You’ll see it higher on TV anyway. And upon arrival, fans ought to anticipate that in the event that they don’t please the officers, they’ll be put straight on the subsequent flight residence. If they’re fortunate.”
The United States is set to co-host this year’s World Cup, as Mexico and Canada will be the site for games in the tournament that spans from June 11-July 19. However, after the Round of 16, all remaining matches will be held in the U.S.
Trump’s stance toward Greenland has led to a call to boycott the World Cup this summer by German soccer federation executive Oke Göttlich.
“I actually surprise when the time will likely be to suppose and speak about this concretely,” Göttlich told Hamburger Morgenpost newspaper about a potential boycott. “For me, that point has positively come.”
Trump said recently that a “framework of a future deal” with NATO involving Greenland and the Arctic region has been discussed, which could ease tension in that regard.
From left; FIFA President Gianni Infantino takes a selfie with President Donald Trump, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney during the draw for the 2026 soccer World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (Chris Carlson/AP Photo)
“Based upon a really productive assembly that I’ve had with the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, we now have shaped the framework of a future cope with respect to Greenland and, in reality, your entire Arctic Region,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
There is also the criticism of ICE agents in U.S. cities, specifically Minneapolis, Minnesota, following the deaths of two U.S. citizens as immigration crackdowns continue.
Pieth discussed that factor as well in his interview.
“The nation itself is in a state of great turmoil,” he said. “What we’re witnessing domestically — the marginalization of political opponents, the abuses by immigration authorities, and so forth — doesn’t precisely entice a fan to journey there.
Pieth likened the States’ “security situation” to Mexico, the place drug cartels threaten violence forward of matches in Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey. Pieth believes the U.S. has turn into “increasingly authoritarian.”
U.S. President Donald Trump receives the FIFA Peace Prize from Gianni Infantino, President of FIFA, throughout the FIFA World Cup 2026 Official Draw at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Dec. 5, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Emilee Chinn/FIFA by way of Getty Images)
It’s value noting Blatter was pressured out of his publish as FIFA president in 2015 following one of many largest corruption scandals within the sport involving wire fraud, racketeering and cash laundering.
Gianni Infantino took over Blatter’s function, and he has had a powerful friendship with Trump.
The State Department additionally informed Fox News Digital solely that it’ll launch the FIFA Priority Appointment Schedule System, or FIFA PASS, which can give World Cupp ticket holders the chance to entry prioritized visa appointments earlier than the event begins on June 11.
Prospective visa holders should be ready to present that they qualify to get hold of a visa and plan to comply with the legal guidelines within the United States in addition to go away the nation as soon as the event is over on July 19.
Trump spoke concerning the FIFA Pass in November, saying the Departments of State and Homeland Security had been working “tirelessly” to “ensure that soccer fans from all around the world are properly vetted and able to come to the United States next summer easily.”
In this Sept. 1, 2020 file photograph, former FIFA President Sepp Blatter, heart, seems in entrance of the constructing of the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland, in Bern, Switzerland. Former FIFA president Blatter spent per week in an induced coma after having coronary heart surgical procedure in December, his household mentioned on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021. (Peter Schneider/Keystone)
“I’ve directed my administration to do everything within the power to make the 2026 World Cup an unprecedented success. I think it’s going to be the greatest, and we are setting records on ticket sales,” Trump mentioned on the time.
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Infantino mentioned the group anticipated “between 5 and 10 million people coming to America from… all over the world to enjoy the World Cup.”
Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.
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Scott Thompson is a sports activities author for Fox News Digital.
