NEWYou can now listen to Pakinomist articles!
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 backlash across the country make it dangerous for fans traveling abroad.
Blatter cited Mark Pieth, an anti-corruption expert and law professor who oversaw the Independent Governance Committee during FIFA’s 2013-16 reform. Speaking to Swiss magazine Der Bund, Pieth told soccer fans: “Stay away from the USA!”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON Pakinomist
FIFA President Sepp Blatter gestures during a press conference at FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland on March 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
“For the fans, there is only one 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 on 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 will host this year’s World Cup, as Mexico and Canada will host games in the tournament, which runs from June 11 to July 19. However, after the 16th round, all remaining matches will be held in the USA
Trump’s stance towards Greenland has led to a call for a boycott of the World Cup this summer by German Football Association director Oke Göttlich.
“I really wonder when is the time to think and talk about this concretely,” Göttlich told the Hamburger Morgenpost newspaper about a potential boycott. “For me, that time has definitely come.”
Trump recently said a “framework for a future deal” with NATO involving Greenland and the Arctic region has been discussed, which could ease tensions 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 FIFA World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (Chris Carlson/AP Photo)
“Based on a very productive meeting I had with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, we have formed the framework for a future agreement regarding Greenland and indeed the entire Arctic region,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
There is also criticism of ICE agents in US cities, specifically Minneapolis, Minnesota, following the deaths of two US citizens as immigration continues.
Pieth also discussed this factor 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 abuse of immigration authorities and so on – doesn’t exactly entice a fan to travel there.
Pieth compared the states’ “security situation” to Mexico, where drug cartels are threatening violence ahead of fights in Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey. Pieth believes that the United States has become “increasingly authoritarian.”
United States President Donald Trump receives the FIFA Peace Prize from FIFA President Gianni Infantino during the official draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on December 5, 2025 in Washington, DC (Emilee Chinn/FIFA via Getty Images)
It is worth noting that Blatter was forced out of his post as FIFA president in 2015 following one of the biggest corruption scandals in sports involving fraud, extortion and money laundering.
Gianni Infantino took over Blatter’s role and has had a strong friendship with Trump.
The State Department also told Pakinomist Digital exclusively that it will launch the FIFA Priority Appointment Schedule System, or FIFA PASS, which will allow World Cup ticket holders to access priority visa appointments before the tournament begins on June 11.
Prospective visa holders must be able to demonstrate that they are eligible to obtain a visa and plan to follow the laws of the United States and leave the country after the tournament ends on July 19.
Speaking about the FIFA passport in November, Trump said the Departments of State and Homeland Security had worked “tirelessly” to “ensure that soccer fans from around the world are properly vetted and can easily come to the United States next summer.”
In this Sept. 1, 2020 file photo, former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, center, appears in front of the Swiss Attorney General’s office building in Bern, Switzerland. Former FIFA president Blatter spent a week in an induced coma after undergoing heart surgery in December, his family said on Thursday, January 21, 2021. (Peter Schneider/Keystone)
“I have directed my administration to do everything in its power to make the 2026 World Cup an unprecedented success. I think it will be the biggest and we will set records in ticket sales,” Trump said at the time.
Infantino said the organization expected “between 5 and 10 million people to come to America from… all over the world to enjoy the World Cup.”
