Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter on Monday backed calls for fans to “stay away” FIFA World Cup match in the United States due to the conduct of President Donald Trump and his administration at home and abroad.
Blatter was the latest international soccer personality to question the suitability of the United States as host nation in a post on X, echoing comments made by Mark Pyth in an interview last week. swiss newspaper der bund.
Pieth, a Swiss lawyer and anti-corruption expert specializing in white-collar crime, chaired the Independent Governance Committee to oversee FIFA reform a decade ago. Blatter was president of the world governing body for football from 1998 to 2015. Resigned amid corruption investigation.
In his interview with Der Bund, Pieth said, “If we consider everything we have discussed, there is only one piece of advice for fans: Stay away from the United States! You’d better watch it on TV anyway. And upon arrival, fans should expect that if they don’t please the authorities, they will be sent straight home on the next flight. If they’re lucky.”
In his ex post, Blatter quoted Pietha and said: “I think Mark Pietha is right to question this World Cup.”
The United States is co-hosting the World Cup with Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19.
The international soccer community’s concerns about the United States stem from Trump’s expansionist stance on Greenland, travel bans, and aggressive tactics in dealing with migrants and immigration enforcement protesters in American cities, particularly Minneapolis.
Okey Gottlich, one of the vice presidents of the German Football Federation, told the Hamburger Morgenpost newspaper in an interview on Friday that the time has come. Seriously consider boycotting the World Cup.
Two weeks ago, the travel plans of fans from two of Africa’s top soccer nations were thrown into disarray when Trump administration announced ban which will effectively prevent people from senegal And Ivory Coast They should be barred from following their teams unless they already have a visa. Trump cited “screening and testing deficiencies” as the main reason for the suspension.
from the fans iran And haitiTwo other countries that have qualified for the World Cup will be barred from entering it United States of America Too; He was included in the first iteration of the travel ban announced by the Trump administration.
This summer’s World Cup has already faced heavy criticism from fan groups over ticket prices, with the list price of a Category 1 ticket for the final at MetLife Stadium on July 19 set at $8,680 due to unprecedented demand and the use of dynamic pricing.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said on Friday that the higher prices could also affect fans who have tickets. Sell them for profit on resale sitesThus the costs are increasing.
“People want to go, and they will go and celebrate together. We always, always celebrate football together,” Infantino said Monday when asked about the message Blatter posted on social media.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
