Ice agents on the streets, travel bans: Should the US host the World Cup?

For Alexander Abnos, senior sports editor at the Guardian US “removing the US as World Cup host would be eminently sad – and entirely justified”.

The 2026 Fifa World Cup will be hosted this summer by Mexico, Canada and the US.

But the killings by Ice agents of US citizens and their intimidatory presence on city streets has been well reported globally which may make travelling fans nervous. And that’s if they get in at all: the US president Donald Trump has imposed travel bans on several countries – including Senegal and Ivory Coast which have qualified to play.

And then there is the stratospherically high price of stadium tickets which make going to the game prohibitively expensive.

In January, former Fifa president Sepp Blatter supported calls by Swiss anti-corruption lawyer Mark Pieth for fans to boycott matches taking place in the US. But calls for boycotts of big sporting events are not unusual. They were loud before the last World Cup in Qatar but didn’t make much of an impression.

Abnos explains why a US boycott won’t happen.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey.

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