The Associated Press reports President Donald Trump has said the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles are among the events he is most excited about in his second term.
The World Cup will be co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico in less than a year. As of Monday, 10 teams have qualified, including Iran, which is on Trump’s travel ban list.
Afghanistan, Haiti, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen are also on the banned list, among others.
Trump said the countries had “deficient” screening and vetting processes or have historically refused to take back their own citizens.
Tighter restrictions will apply to visitors from seven more including Cuba and Venezuela.
However, all should be able to send teams to the World Cup if they qualify because the new policy makes exceptions for “any athlete or member of an athletic team” traveling to the U.S. for the World Cup or Olympics.
But, the ban doesn’t mention exceptions for fans from the targeted countries wishing to travel to the U.S. for the sporting events.
During the 2018 World Cup, host Russia let fans enter the country with a game ticket doubling as their visa. So did Qatar four years later.
Both governments, however, also performed background checks on all visitors coming to the month-long soccer tournaments.
