Ex-Fifa-Chef
Debate about World Cup boycott: Sepp Blatter criticizes US hosts
Should we boycott the World Cup because of Donald Trump? Former FIFA boss Sepp Blatter agrees with a Swiss expert who says: “Stay away from the USA!”
Former FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter has intervened in the debate about a fan boycott of the World Cup in the summer that broke out in response to the US government’s course. The 89-year-old shared a quote from criminal lawyer and former FIFA Commission President Mark Pieth from an interview with the Swiss “Tagesanzeiger” on the
Pieth said in the interview published a few days ago: “If we now put together everything we’ve talked about, there is only one piece of advice for the fans: Stay away from the USA! You’ll see it better on TV anyway. And: When entering the country, fans have to expect that if they don’t please the officials, they’ll be sent straight home on the next plane. If they’re lucky.” If not, they would be “deported to Central America. These are the realities. The most harmless thing is that the officials take your cell phone apart and see if you have written anything negative about Trump,” said 72-year-old Pieth.
“For the fans, there’s only one piece of advice: stay away from the USA!” I think Mark Pieth is right to question this World Cup. #MarkPieth #GianniInfantino #DonaldTrump #FIFAWorldCup2026 #USA
— Joseph S Blatter (@SeppBlatter) January 26, 2026
At this point, our editorial team has integrated content from Twitter / X.
Due to your privacy settings, this content has not been loaded to protect your privacy.
Sepp Blatter and Mark Pieth at FIFA at the same time
Pieth pointed out the domestic political situation. The "marginalization of political opponents" or "the attacks by the immigration authorities" do not make a fan want to travel there. The USA is in a similar situation to Mexico in terms of security. In Mexico it is the drug gangs that threaten attacks, in the USA it is a state that is becoming authoritarian," said Pieth about the co-host of the tournament, which runs from June 11th to July 19th.
Blatter was President of Fifa from 1998 to 2015, and incumbent Fifa President Gianni Infantino is his successor. Blatter resigned amid corruption investigations. He has repeatedly criticized his successor Gianni Infantino sharply in recent years. Pieth chaired FIFA's Independent Commission on Governance from 2011 to 2013 and previously chaired the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) Anti-Corruption Working Group from 1989 to 2013.
US government under criticism – boycott demands in Germany
There have recently been isolated calls in Germany to boycott the World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada. DFB vice president and St. Pauli club boss Oke Göttlich brought up a discussion about this because of President Donald Trump's course. DFB President Bernd Neuendorf doesn't believe in a boycott, other people in charge and also players from the Bundesliga have expressed themselves very cautiously in the past few days.
Around the conflict between the USA and the European NATO states because of Trump's aggressive demands for the annexation of Greenland by the USA, there were also voices from politicians that participation in the World Cup should be reconsidered. Trump's radical deportation policy and the fatal shootings by federal officials of protesting US citizens in Minneapolis further fueled criticism.
During the highly controversial operation to deport irregular migrants in the US city of Minneapolis, Border Patrol officers shot another person on Saturday. The German federal government advised travelers to exercise increased caution on Monday.
Fans of some World Cup participants cannot enter
Fans of World Cup participants Iran and Haiti cannot travel to games in the United States anyway because of an entry ban by the USA against their home countries. A trip to the World Cup would also be very difficult for supporters of Ivory Coast and African champions Senegal who do not have a second citizenship. US President Trump justified this with “deficits in checks and inspections”.
DPA · SID
rw
