By Ifeoma Agu
Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has publicly endorsed calls for football fans to boycott matches of the 2026 World Cup staged in the United States, citing concerns over security, immigration enforcement and the country’s broader political climate.
Blatter, who led world football’s governing body from 1998 to 2015, made the remarks in a post on social media platform X on Jan. 26, backing comments by Swiss anti-corruption lawyer and former FIFA reform adviser Mark Pieth.
“For the fans, there’s only one piece of advice: stay away from the USA,” Blatter said, echoing Pieth’s call for supporters not to travel to the United States when the tournament begins on June 11, 2026. He added that watching matches on television would be “the safer and more sensible option.”
The 2026 World Cup will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, with the majority of matches scheduled across U.S. cities. It will be the largest World Cup in history, featuring 48 teams and expected to attract millions of visitors.
Blatter’s intervention has intensified a growing debate over whether the United States is a suitable host, shifting attention from sporting preparations to political, security and human rights concerns.
Pieth, whose remarks Blatter endorsed, pointed to recent deaths linked to U.S. immigration enforcement operations and warned that visiting fans — particularly from Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean — could face heightened scrutiny at borders or risk detention and deportation.
“People underestimate how dangerous the situation has become,” Pieth said in the interview that prompted Blatter’s response. “Fans should seriously consider staying away.”
Criticism has focused on domestic policies under U.S. President Donald Trump, including stricter immigration enforcement, travel bans affecting several countries and incidents linked to enforcement actions in major cities. Those developments have sparked protests and renewed debate over civil liberties.
Questions about the United States as a host are not new. German football officials, including a vice president of the German Football Federation, have previously voiced support for revisiting the idea of a boycott, citing geopolitical tensions and political polarization.
Concerns were also raised during the bidding and planning stages over whether U.S. immigration laws could hinder travel for fans and teams, particularly given past restrictions on entry for citizens of certain countries.
Supporters of a boycott argue the issue goes beyond safety, touching on the values the World Cup is meant to represent.
“The World Cup is supposed to unite people,” one European football official said. “That principle is undermined if fans are afraid to travel or feel unwelcome.”
FIFA has shown no sign of reconsidering the United States’ role. FIFA President Gianni Infantino has repeatedly stressed that inclusivity and access for all teams, officials and supporters are central to the tournament, calling the North American World Cup a “historic opportunity” for global football.
Critics of the boycott, however, say the idea is unrealistic. They point to the scale of financial investment, advanced planning by host cities and the difficulty of separating sport from politics.
As preparations continue, Blatter’s remarks have added a volatile dimension to the buildup toward 2026. Whether fans heed his call or not, the World Cup now appears set to be judged not only on goals and trophies, but also on how global sport navigates politics, security and human rights in an increasingly divided world.
