Football World Cup
Experts are sounding the alarm about conditions in the USA
Updated April 29, 2026 – 11:20 amReading time: 2 minutes
The World Cup starts in North and Central America in a month and a half. Host USA is increasingly becoming the focus of criticism.
Less than two months before the start of the World Cup (June 11 to July 19), Human Rights Watch (HRW for short) is sounding the alarm, particularly about the conditions in the co-host country, the USA. When presenting a World Cup guide in Berlin, the human rights organization warned urgently against “exclusion and fear” during the tournament in the host trio’s largest country.
HRW called on the world association FIFA to take protective measures for all groups of people who would be affected by excessive actions by the administration of US President Donald Trump.
“The World Cup threatens to become a sportswashing festival for the Trump administration,” said director Minky Worden of HRW’s global initiatives department: “FIFA must take more effective steps to protect athletes, fans and workers from the US government’s abusive policies.” FIFA boss Gianni Infantino has been criticized internationally for months because of his closeness to Trump.
HRW also wrote in the media briefing that the World Cup, which is also hosted by the US’s neighboring countries Mexico and Canada, runs the risk of becoming “a platform for abusive policies that are directed against immigrants and visitors and showcase racism, exclusion, fear and discrimination.” At the same time, the non-governmental organization pointed out its observations of “increasing authoritarianism and regression in human rights in the United States.”
HRW backed up its warnings with official figures from US authorities on operations by the now infamous immigration agency ICE. Accordingly, at least 167,000 people were arrested in the eleven World Cup cities in the USA and their surrounding areas in the 15 months from January 2025 to March of this year.
