Trump’s Travel Bans Won’t Impact World Cup Athletes

Image courtesy of The Athletic.

By Griffin Cappiello

At the end of last year, President Donald Trump announced that his extensive travel restrictions would be extended to an additional 20 countries, bringing the total number of affected countries to 40. The State Department also announced this month that they would be pausing immigrant visa processing for 75 countries, with some overlap on both lists. 

With major sporting events, namely, the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 2028 Olympic Games, and the 2029 Paralympic Games, set to take place in the United States, athletes and fans from foreign countries alike expressed concerns about potential restrictions that could prohibit their participation in these competitions. Four countries that face travel bans – Senegal, Ivory Coast, Iran, and Haiti – have already qualified for the World Cup, while traditional soccer powerhouses, such as Brazil and Colombia, currently face visa pauses. 

The State Department later clarified that athletes and coaches traveling to the United States in order to compete in certain competitions would be exempt from the travel bans. The list of approved competitions included the World Cup, the Olympics, the Paralympics, as well as sporting events hosted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and major U.S. sports leagues. 

However, while athletes and coaches will be permitted to enter the United States, it is possible that spectators and members of the media may not; the exceptions to the travel restrictions only seem to apply to essential team personnel and not to fans who live in countries that face travel bans. 

With regards to fans that live in countries that face only visa pauses, it seems that they will be allowed to travel to the United States in order to cheer on their favorite teams. In The Athletic’s coverage of this issue, they clarified that “the [visa] pause is solely related to immigrant visas — for those who wish to live permanently in the United States. Fans seeking to visit the U.S. would instead be applying for non-immigrant visas, likely on tourist or business visas, and the policy announced this week does not impact those applications.”

Zohran Mamdani, an avid soccer fan and the Mayor of New York City, is an outspoken critic of President Trump’s travel restrictions.

“It’s something I hope to change,” Mamdani told The Athletic. “And I will always make the case not only for our city as the world’s city, but also a city that the world can visit.” 

Mamdani hosted a watch party for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final earlier this month. Senegal, who won the AFCON, has a large population of immigrants in New York City, but is also one of the countries that faces a travel ban. Mamdani shared that he felt that the World Cup is an opportunity for the diaspora community, along with the rest of New York City, to share their love of soccer with the rest of the world. 

“We have to allow the world to be here in order to fully experience the world,” he explained. 

With the World Cup only five months away, it seems unlikely that President Trump will change his mind with regards to his travel restrictions. However, with the incredible economic opportunity that comes with hosting a major global sporting event and the threat of a World Cup boycott looming, it is entirely possible that he may be convinced to reconsider his restrictions.