The World Cup will start in less than 24 hours. Still, rather than being inundated by the conversations of what will happen on the pitch, colourful spectacle of boisterous fans, the grand and magnificent stadia and debate about the quality of participating nations and their players, we are being regaled by controversies and troubling off-field incidents that not only cast doubt on the ability of the USA — which is one of the three nation, Mexico and Canada being the other two, hosting the tournament and where majority of the matches will be played — to host such a global sporting event but also raised questions about rationale behind awarding the hosting right to it in the first place.
From detaining and deporting a FIFA-accredited referee selected to officiate in the tournament, denying thousands of supporters who have spent thousands of their hard-earned money on travel tickets and booking hotels to the persecution of the Iranian team and the harrowing and dehumanising security checks that most Asian and African teams are subjected to, the World Cup has been overshadowed by troubling controversies and jarring incidents that have never been seen since the tournament began nearly a century ago. Within Nigeria, we have curated some of these incidents.
A detained and deported referee
As the World Cup kicks off in a few hours, one of Africa’s finest and most decorated referees won’t be there, not because of anything he did wrong, but because of where he was born and the shenanigans of geopolitics. Omar Abdulkadir Artan flew into Miami International Airport on June 6 with a valid visa, a diplomatic passport, and a FIFA appointment to officiate at the biggest football tournament on earth. He was left in a holding cell, then on a flight back to Istanbul, without ever setting foot into the United States.
Artan arrived in Miami on a flight from Istanbul, Turkey, where he had been based ahead of the tournament. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) pulled him for what they described as “additional inspection”, a routine process, per their public statement, when officers need to verify information or determine admissibility.
What followed was anything but routine. Artan was subjected to an 11-hour agonising immigration interrogation. After that, he was taken to a holding cell and detained for several more hours before being put on a return flight to Istanbul. CBP confirmed he was “determined to be inadmissible due to vetting concerns” but offered no further explanation for the decision.
Somalia is one of 39 countries listed under President Trump’s travel ban executive order, which restricts or bars entry for nationals from those countries. In December, Trump told reporters he does not want Somali immigrants in the US and that they should “go back to where they came from.”
Shooting near the England base
When the USA was announced as one of the countries to host the 2026 World Cup, one of the major concerns raised by fans and critical stakeholders was the gun violence in the country owing to the proliferation of firearms. Year after year, thousands, including schoolchildren, lose their lives to indiscriminate and senseless shootings of innocent people by bloodthirsty psychopaths who have cheap and easy access to firearms.
It did not take long before this fear was confirmed.
At least nine people suffered varying degrees of injuries in a shooting near England’s World Cup base in Kansas City, Missouri. The shooting happened less than five miles, or a 10-minute drive, from the training base camp and a little further in the other direction to the team hotel England will use during the tournament
According to The Athletic, Police were called to reports of an incident on Troost Avenue at around 4am on Saturday.
Argentina and the Netherlands are also based in Kansas City. The World Cup holders will use Sporting KC’s main training facility, while the Dutch will train at the base of NWSL side Kansas City Current. Kansas City is expecting around 650,000 visitors during the World Cup, an unusually high influx for the area, which poses significant safety and security challenges for the area.
Mayor Quinton Lucas of Kansas City, Missouri said: “The shooting at an after-hours club is a tragedy. It is also nowhere near England’s or any country’s training or lodging facilities. We are grateful there was no loss of life. We will hold the offenders and all in violation of the law accountable.”
Visa denials and tickets revocation
The tournament has also been dogged and eclipsed by visa denial and intense immigration scrutiny. Many fans have been denied visas to travel to the US, support their national team and have a good time, wondrous moment and engage in cultural exchanges with other football lovers from around the world in the tournament, with many of the denials coming without reasons or explanations. Fans from more than a quarter of the countries taking part in the World Cup are facing travel bans, tighter restrictions or high visa rejection rates, according to analysis of travel data by the BBC.
Many Moroccan fans are left stranded, frustrated and helpless after their hope of being in the US for the 2026 World Cup was dashed after visa denial. Azzedine Al Attraoui, the Moroccan National Team Supporters Association President, appealed to FIFA to intervene amid US visa denials.
“Many Moroccan fans have applied for US visas to go cheer on the Atlas Lions, but many have had their visa applications denied,” Al Attraoui told Al Jazeera.
“They went to the embassy, paid visa fees, but were shocked to be denied visas. Why? No explanation,” he said. The Moroccan fan emphasised that he and more than 40 fans “who have a passion for football went to apply for visas.”
“We are demanding FIFA and its president, who is in charge of fans and the World Cup, to intervene, as many Moroccan fans want to go and cannot stay behind, as they have responsibilities at home, including their children and jobs.”
Authorities in Iran have also accused the US government of blocking Iranian supporters from travelling to the country for the global showpiece. Iran football federation on Wednesday announced that the US government revoked the tickets allocated to the West Asian country for its group games in the country.
“With less than three days remaining until the start of the 2026 World Cup … the United States has once again acted to obstruct the presence of Iranian supporters at the stadiums hosting the national team’s three group stage matches,” FFIRI said in a statement on Tuesday.
The ticket revocation came after the US refused to issue visas to some of Iran’s support staff and also blocked it from using the base designated for the country’s team in the US, forcing it to use Tijuana in Mexico as its base even though all its matches will be played in the US.
According to the statement, FFIRI had already begun ticket sales for group stage matches against New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt – all to be held in the US – after receiving its quota, with some fans having already made necessary arrangements.
“However, in an unexpected move, the allocation granted to the Iranian Football Federation has been withdrawn, and under the current circumstances, the federation is unable to provide even a single ticket to supporters of the national team,” it said.
FFIRI described the move as “contrary to the spirit governing international competitions and the principle of equality among participating countries”.
A Scottish football fan also recounted how his joy of being in the US for the World Cup was shattered in the last minute after he found out that his travel permit had been revoked at the airport just before embarking on his journey.
According to the BBC, Michael Wright said everything was going as planned and all was in place for his trip to the States for a dream 30th birthday trip with his brother andhe had tickets for Scotland’s group stage games against Haiti and Morocco.
But he ended up having to send his brother through the security gates at Manchester Airport on his own when his visa status switched from “approved” to “pending” and finally to “travel not authorised”.
Fans from countries like Iraq, Côte d’Ivoire And Senegal have been at the receiving end of harsh and unfair immigration policies designed to shut out certain countries from visiting the US for the World Cup.
Julien Kouadio Adonis from the Ivory Coast’s fan association, the National Committee for the Support of the Elephants says: “It’s a form of segregation that doesn’t dare speak its name, but the proof is there.
“No European country has faced this kind of restriction. Why Africa?” he said in an interview with the BBC.
Harrowing and dehumanising security checks
Aside from the bureaucratic hurdle and immigration obstacles, some of the teams that qualified for the World Cup and will play their matches in the US have also had to endure agonising and degrading treatment at the hands of immigration and security officers during security checks at the point of entry.
Videos of the Senegal, Ghana and Uzbekistan teams being intensely frisked and their luggage being inappropriately checked have gone viral on social media with netizens wondering why the players, coaching team and administrative staff of national teams are being subjected to such a distastefully rigorous search as if they were criminals or terrorists on a wanted list.
