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Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter says soccer fans should avoid traveling to the United States for the 2026 World Cup this summer.
Blatter’s reasoning? His belief that President Donald Trump’s international aggression and immigration crackdown across the country makes it dangerous for fans traveling overseas.
Blatter cited Mark Pieth, an anti-corruption expert and law professor who oversaw the Independent Governance Committee during FIFA’s reform from 2013-16. Pieth spoke with Swiss outlet Der Bund, where he told soccer fans to, “Stay away from the USA!”
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FIFA President Sepp Blatter gestures during a press conference at 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 think Mark Pieth is right to question this World Cup,” Blatter, 89, tweeted on Monday.
Pieth added in his interview: “You’ll see it better on TV anyway. And upon arrival, fans should expect that if they don’t please the officials, they’ll be put straight on the next flight home. If they’re lucky.”
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 really wonder when the time will be to think and talk about this concretely,” Göttlich told Hamburger Morgenpost newspaper about a potential boycott. “For me, that time has definitely 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 very productive meeting that I have had with the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, we have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the 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 country itself is in a state of tremendous turmoil,” he said. “What we’re witnessing domestically — the marginalization of political opponents, the abuses by immigration authorities, and so on — doesn’t exactly entice a fan to travel there.
Pieth likened the States’ “security situation” to Mexico, where drug cartels threaten violence ahead of matches in Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey. Pieth believes the U.S. has become “increasingly authoritarian.”
U.S. President Donald Trump receives the FIFA Peace Prize from Gianni Infantino, President of FIFA, during 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 via Getty Images)
It’s worth noting Blatter was forced out of his post as FIFA president in 2015 following one of the biggest corruption scandals in the sport involving wire fraud, racketeering and money laundering.
Gianni Infantino took over Blatter’s role, and he has had a strong friendship with Trump.
The State Department also told Digital exclusively that it will launch the FIFA Priority Appointment Schedule System, or FIFA PASS, which will give World Cupp ticket holders the opportunity to access prioritized visa appointments before the tournament begins on June 11.
Prospective visa holders must be able to show that they qualify to obtain a visa and plan to follow the laws in the United States as well as leave the country once the tournament is over on July 19.
Trump spoke about 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 photo, former FIFA President Sepp Blatter, center, appears in front of the building of the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland, in Bern, Switzerland. Former FIFA president Blatter spent a week in an induced coma after having heart surgery in December, his family said 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 said at the time.
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Infantino said the organization expected “between 5 and 10 million people coming to America from… all over the world to enjoy the World Cup.”
‘ Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.
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