Amid that soccer diplomacy, there have also been concerns about the impact some of Trump’s policies and statements could have on the World Cup, and uncertainty about how welcome visitors from some countries will be.
In June, the White House listed 19 countries, predominantly in Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean, that would face full or partial restrictions on immigration, citing the need to manage security threats.
Amid suggestions that the list could expand to up to 30 countries after an Afghan man was identified as a suspect in the recent shooting of two National Guard soldiers near the White House, FIFA has promised to have a welcoming and unifying tournament.
But Iran and Haiti, whose teams qualified for the World Cup, are among the countries affected by the ban. Last week, Iran said it planned to boycott the draw due to the limited number of visas for its delegation.
The June executive order exempts athletes and coaching staff from traveling for the World Cup, but fans could face a ban.
“We want to make sure we are as welcoming as possible,” Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House World Cup Task Force, said Wednesday.
Giuliani praised a program designed to shorten interview wait times for visitor visas for those with tickets, but did not rule out raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) against undocumented immigrants at World Cup venues. Giuliani insisted that authorities wanted to ensure that visitors entered the United States legally to prioritize the safety of American citizens.
This stance worries civil liberties advocates, with Human Rights Watch stating that the draw will take place against “a backdrop of violent immigration arrests, National Guard deployments to US cities, and the obsequious cancellation of FIFA’s own anti-racism and anti-discrimination campaigns.”
“There is still time to fulfill FIFA’s promises of a World Cup untainted by human rights abuses, but the clock is ticking,” he said.
During a meeting with Infantino in the Oval Office last month, Trump suggested he could even pull games from Democratic-run host cities if he was concerned about security.
While it is unclear whether the president will, or even could, carry out a move that would cause major logistical and legal disruptions, his words added to the uncertainty surrounding the tournament.
At the same meeting, Trump suggested that he could launch “attacks” against Mexico if he could stop drug trafficking to the United States. After Trump’s trade policies had already caused friction with both Mexico and Canada, they only reinforced concerns about the level of cooperation between the three World Cup co-hosts on issues such as tournament security.
Infantino might argue that, given the unpredictability of some of Trump’s statements, having a close relationship with him is even more crucial.
But others would argue that it also risks impeding his ability to take on the president of the United States.
