GENEVA — United Nations rights chief Volker Türk urged the United States to reconsider its immigration enforcement ahead of the World Cup after several match officials, team staff and fans were barred from entering the country. Türk warned that actions perceived as racial profiling and dehumanisation of migrants risk casting a shadow over the tournament.
The record 48-team World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, opens June 11 at Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca and runs until the final in New Jersey on July 19. Organisers face unprecedented logistical challenges as millions of fans travel across three nations.
Türk singled out the denial of entry to Somali referee Omar Artan, a leading African official, as an example of how current US immigration measures could harm the event’s spirit. “I hope there’s a massive rethink of how immigration enforcement is impacting human rights and human dignity,” he told reporters, urging an end to divisive and polarising narratives that dehumanise migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
Tensions surrounding the US-Israel war on Iran have also complicated preparations. Iran, which will play three group matches on US soil, moved its training base to Mexico amid the conflict. The Iranian football federation said on June 9 that its ticket allocation was revoked and several support staff were denied visas, a move Tehran described as “deliberate and discriminatory.”