FIFA has another World Cup host problem, but the president of football’s world governing body is once again turning a blind eye to many of the issues the organisation claims to care about.

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar was highly controversial and raised numerous human rights issues. The 2026 edition looks set to have similar problems in the United States, which is co-hosting the tournament alongside Canada and Mexico.

“Fifa’s vision is to make football truly global, diverse and inclusive, for the benefit of the entire world,” reads a quote on the website of football’s global governing body, attributed to its president Gianni Infantino.

In the next breath, Infantino is speaking of a friendship and admiration for Donald Trump and his upcoming administration.

It is safe to say that diversity and inclusion and the Trump administration do not go hand in hand. They are incompatible.

Trump’s government has already targeted these areas and is looking to roll back laws and measures which were originally aimed at supporting groups of people who have long been discriminated against.

Trump and his cronies aim to destroy “DEI.” It stands for diversity, equity and inclusion but as a standalone acronym has been weaponised by the right in the same way calling someone “woke” — which originally meant to stand up for the rights of African Americans — can now seemingly be used in a derogatory fashion.

This is all part of an excuse to roll back civil rights, in moves which could take the US backwards to a time before the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Fawning over Trump goes against Fifa’s claim to support diversity and inclusion.

It also goes against Fifa’s claim to “focus on social responsibilities, in particular climate-related aspects,” as Trump reneges on US commitments related to climate change.

Another of Fifa’s mottos is “Football unites the world,” but fans from many parts of the world may have trouble simply entering the United States come 2026.

Just last week, Canadian professor Nathan Kalman-Lamb was denied entry to the US while travelling to Washington to discuss his book, co-written with Derek Silva, entitled The End of College Football.

Though no reason was given, Kalman-Lamb told The Nation that his “strongest guess is that it is because I have been reasonably outspoken in my critiques of the genocide being perpetrated in Gaza.”

If anyone who spoke out against Israel’s genocide in Gaza is going to be prevented from entering the US, then there will be big problems for people trying to enter the country from now on, and especially for the 2026 World Cup.

Teams travelling to the United States to play in the region's Champions League or Copa Libertadores equivalent regularly face visa issues. Some have even been unable to enter the country to play these games.

Over the years, numerous teams have had to forfeit games or turn up with a depleted group of players and staff due to visa complications when entering the US.

In June last year the Cayman Islands won a World Cup qualifier for the first time, but travelling to play Cuba in their next game would have seen their players who study in the US lose their US Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (Esta) visas, so they forfeited the game 3-0.

The idea of the 2026 World Cup being open to all, including all teams aiming to qualify, has already been compromised by one of its hosts.

In 2026 there will be fans trying to enter the US from all around the world. In such a situation, the host country needs to allow ease of access, or at least make the visa process temporarily easier — as Russia did in 2018 with a Fan ID system that doubled as a visa.

Maybe Infantino is trying to get in Trump’s good books to make something like this happen. Maybe not.

These kinds of visa issues when trying to enter the US are not unique to Trump or the Republicans. Many of these problems also occurred under the Biden administration, but it looks like such freedom of movement vital to a global sporting event will only be more difficult come 2026.

Any fans who have previously holidayed in Cuba, or journalists who have worked in a country on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list such as Iran, will have trouble entering the United States next year even if they begin the visa process now.

Even if fans from certain countries can gain visas with little fuss via the Esta system, the US system might still not appear welcoming or safe.

Fifa has a chequered history of supporting LGBTQ+ communities, and the Trump administration is openly targeting these groups.

When the late US soccer writer Grant Wahl wore a T-shirt bearing a rainbow logo in support of LGBTQ+ communities to cover a match at the World Cup in Qatar, he was refused entry to the stadium, detained for 25 minutes, and had his phone confiscated before eventually having it returned and being allowed to enter media areas.

Though that incident was down to the Qatari authorities rather than directly related to Fifa, the governing body had banned the One Love armbands which were a popular show of solidarity with LGBTQ+ people at the time, so Fifa was not exactly showing solidarity itself.

The US is not much better on these issues. In his inauguration speech last week, Trump targeted the LGBTQ+ community, and transgender people in particular.

This is not a US government that wants to welcome the world or is set up to do so, but rather than highlighting these problems and pushing back on behalf of football fans and players, Fifa is cosying up to Trump.

A recent article on the Fifa website says: “Gianni Infantino has thanked Donald Trump for referencing Fifa and the Fifa President by name in an address at a rally which was staged on the eve of the 47th US President’s inauguration in Washington DC.”

It adds: “Gianni Infantino has a great friendship with the 45th and now 47th US President,” and Infantino was present as Trump announced repressive measure after regressive measure to fawning cheers and standing ovations in Washington DC on Monday.

All the while, Infantino’s Instagram account was regularly updated with images and comments stating his admiration for Trump, and sandwiched between all that was a video with the message “football unites the world.”

If the Qatar World Cup was considered a form of sportswashing for an authoritarian state with a poor human rights record, then this is sportswashing for an imperialist capitalist US administration whose racist and misogynistic traits are not so underlying.

When it’s convenient, Fifa claims to be apolitical. It will ban political messaging from its events (partly so as not to deter advertisers who like the sanitised football “product” that Fifa specialises in).

The actions of Fifa’s president, who is not merely performing administrative duties with one of the presidents of an upcoming host country, but openly endorsing and promoting him, shows that it is not an apolitical organisation.

It will use politics for its own ends but forbid others from having a voice and freedom to express themselves. In this sense, it is not dissimilar to the country that will host the 2026 World Cup final.