Donald Trump’s second attempt at a travel ban could leave Canada and Mexico in the lurch when it comes to a possible joint bid for the FIFA 2026 World Cup.
The three North American countries were in talks about hosting the soccer tournament together, officials said earlier this year.
But the event sees countries from all over the world send a team – if the country qualifies – to the tournament, and that could prove challenging if Donald Trump’s travel ban comes into effect on March 22.
READ MORE: FIFA expands World Cup to 48 teams
“Teams who qualify for a World Cup need to have access to the country, otherwise there is no World Cup. That is obvious,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in London on Thursday.
Bidding to host the event hasn’t yet begun, and Infantino said they are “now in the process of defining the bid requirements.”
“The requirements will be clear. And then each country can make up their decision, whether they want to bid or not,” he said.
The ban, which is in its second incarnation, would see travellers from six Muslim majority nations barred from the U.S. Announced on Monday, it already faces legal challenges from the states of Hawaii, Washington, New York and Oregon.
WATCH: Washington State seeks to halt Trump’s new travel ban
When Trump’s first iteration of the ban came into effect in February, many travellers, including professional athletes, were denied entry to the U.S.
One student track-and-field athlete from Quebec claims he was denied entry after being questioned about his religion and his Moroccan heritage.
L.A.’s 2024 Olympic bid
The head of Los Angeles’s bid for the 2024 Olympics said Trump will make accommodations to his travel ban should the city beat out Paris for the right to host the summer Games.
Gene Sykes said Trump, who last month issued his first public support for the LA2024 bid, not only wants Los Angeles to host the Olympics, but will “make accommodations” to his policies and ensure “free access” for athletes to compete.
“He wants the Olympic Games badly enough that if anything the administration does gets (delete) in the way of free access for people at international sporting events in the United States – I would daresay that includes FIFA –they will make accommodations,” Sykes told Reuters at a business and technology summit in Santa Monica, Calif.
Bidding for the 2024 summer Games has entered its final stage, with the International Olympic Committee scheduled to choose between Los Angeles and Paris in September.
Events like the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup can have an economic benefit for their host countries.
READ MORE: FIFA generated millions in net economic activity for Moncton, N.B. : report
*With Files from Reuters
Comments