UN urges US to reconsider immigration policy for World Cup

UN human‑rights chief Volker Turk called on the United States to review its immigration procedures ahead of the football World Cup, after a top referee and several fans were denied entry.

The tournament, featuring 48 national teams and drawing millions of supporters, will be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. It is the first World Cup to be co‑hosted by three countries and the most logistically demanding edition ever.

Turk highlighted the denial of entry to Somali referee Omar Artan—a leading African match official—as evidence that U.S. immigration policy could negatively affect the event.

“I hope that the issues around racial profiling and immigration enforcement do not impact this World Cup in the way they have already,” Turk said to reporters. “I really hope that there’s a massive re‑think of how immigration enforcement is impacting human rights and human dignity, especially for the World Cup.”

He added, “I also hope that the dehumanisation of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers is put to an end, because nobody benefits from divisive and polarising narratives.”

The competition will open at Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca on Thursday with Mexico facing South Africa, and will run for nearly six weeks, concluding with the final in New Jersey on July 19.

Geopolitical tensions have also cast a shadow over the tournament. The U.S.–Israel war on Iran has influenced the preparations of the Iranian team, which will play three group matches on U.S. soil. The federation has moved its training base to Mexico and has reported that its ticket allocation for fans has been revoked. Some support staff have also been denied visas, a decision Iranian officials have described as “deliberate and discriminatory.”

The article “UN calls for US immigration ‘re‑think’ for World Cup” first appeared on Vanguard News.