WASHINGTON — President Trump said Wednesday that US officials are working to ensure the “right people” come into the country for the World Cup after fans, team officials and even a match referee were denied entry.
“We’re working on it very closely to make sure the right people come into our country,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday.
The world’s biggest sporting event kicks off Thursday with two games in co-host nation Mexico. The first game hosted by the US will take place Friday night, when the home nation takes on Paraguay in Los Angeles.
The Trump administration has expressed concern “bad actors” may enter the US in the guise of team personnel or media members.
The Iranian team, in particular, has been a cause of concern due to the ongoing war with the US, which began Feb. 28. The team moved its base to Mexico from Arizona, but will play its games in Los Angeles and Seattle.
“The problem with Iran would be not their athletes. It would be some of the other people they would want to bring with them, some of whom have ties to the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps]. We may not be able to let them in, but not the athletes themselves,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained in April.
“They can’t bring a bunch of IRGC terrorists into our country and pretend that they are journalists and athletic trainers.”
Visa applications by more than a dozen members of the Iranian traveling party were rejected by US officials. FIFA also revoked the Iranian soccer federation’s ticket allocation for the Islamic Republic’s first match of the tournament, due to take place against New Zealand Monday.
Iranians are subject to travel and visa issuance bans that would prevent the vast majority of their citizens from entering America.
The case of Somali official Omar Artan has also prompted worldwide outrage.
Artan, who was to be the first referee from the East African nation to take charge of a World Cup match, was denied entry into the US after being held at Miami International Airport for 11 hours over the weekend.
On Tuesday, US officials said that the referee was barred due to an “association with suspected members of terror organizations,” presumably the Al Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab network.
Several journalists, mainly from the Middle East and Africa, have been denied visas needed to cover the tournament.
Some ticket holders from the Democratic Republic of Congo were also turned away due to the recent Ebola outbreak.
Even some fans from Scotland, where citizens usually only need an electronic travel authorization instead of a visa, have had trouble with their trips.
Dozens of Scottish fans found their electronic approval status suddenly changed from “approved” to “travel not authorized” just hours before their flights, threatening their plans to attend the tournament and risking thousands in lost travel costs.
Scotland’s first minister, John Swinney, said Tuesday that he had “asked [US] officials to convey our hope that they can resolve this so that Scotland’s fans do not miss out.”
Andrew Giuliani, the head of the White House Task Force for the World Cup, defended the moves Tuesday.
“No players, no coaches have been denied,” Giuliani said at an event hosted by the Atlantic Council. “There have been some officials that have been denied, and for good reason.”
“We’re striking that balance between making sure that any bad actors that … try to come into the country under the guise of the World Cup will not get access to the United States,” he added.
The task force is meant to coordinate between the host cities, state and local governments and all the law enforcement agencies involved in producing the World Cup.
The US will host 78 World Cup matches across 11 cities, including the final July 19 at MetLife Stadium, and authorities have had to plan for events such as terror attacks, transportation challenges, the threat of infectious diseases like norovirus and Ebola, and extreme weather.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino told reporters at his pre-tournament news conference on Wednesday that the global soccer governing body was doing its best to sort out snafus.
“We are not the kings of the world, who can rule over governments and police forces and I don’t know what,” he said in Mexico City. “We are a sports organization, we try to do our best with the means that we have.”
“Maybe sometimes it’s good as well to chill, relax,” added Infantino. “We work on everything, we try to resolve everything.”
