When the beautiful game plays ugly: World Cup 2026 and the Global South

"Brazil or Argentina?" is a question we are frequently asked these days. The 2026 Fifa World Cup has already started and Bangladesh has once again caught up in football fever. Giant flags are seen hanging from rooftops. Tea stalls stay open late into the night. Strangers become friends or rivals over debates about tactics, players and predictions. In Bangladesh, the World Cup often feels bigger than any other global event, including Eid. 

But we can see a completely different scenario on the other side of the world. A growing number of players, officials, referees and supporters from Asia and Africa have faced visa delays, invasive questioning and outright entry refusals while trying to enter the United States. The incidents have raised serious concerns about whether all participating nations are being treated equally at football's biggest tournament or not. 

Observers and analysts have increasingly questioned whether the US is weaponising the tournament to advance its own foreign policy agenda, particularly toward developing nations that have actively challenged Western dominance in international affairs. Since the US is hosting the majority of the matches during this 2026 tournament, American authorities possess significant control over logistics, security arrangements and entry requirements for teams, fans and officials from all participating nations.

This makes us think: Is football, a game of immense love and raw emotion, getting polluted by something far more sinister? 

The referee who never got to blow his whistle

Omar Abdulkadir Artan was named Africa's best male referee in 2025. He was fully set to become the first referee from Somalia to officiate a World Cup match. He possessed a diplomatic passport and a valid visa. He had trained relentlessly for this exact moment his entire life. Surprisingly, when Artan arrived at Miami International Airport from Istanbul, he was immediately subjected to additional inspection. He was subsequently determined to be inadmissible due to vague vetting concerns and was denied entry. US Customs and Border Protection offered absolutely no specific explanation for this behaviour. In an interview with the New York Times, Artan shared that he was very disappointed after being questioned for 11 grueling hours before his deportation. 

It is impossible to ignore the context here: Somalia remains on President Donald Trump's travel ban list and the president has often disparaged the African country and its people.

Fifa's response to this flagrant targeting was remarkable in its cowardice. "Fifa is not involved in host country immigration processes, including visa adjudications," the governing body noted coldly. 

In other words: it is not our problem. 

A man's lifelong dream has been shattered entirely and football's governing body doesn't simply care.

Seven hours for a star, ten hours for a photographer

Iraq is finally returning to the World Cup stage for the first time in 40 years. That's huge actually. Striker Aymen Hussein is the very man who made the impossible possible. He arrived in the United States with his squad for what should have been a joyful career milestone. Instead, Hussein was detained and aggressively questioned by US immigration authorities for nearly seven hours upon arriving at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. He was abruptly separated from the rest of the squad by Customs and Border Protection officers immediately after arrival and authorities reportedly inspected his personal mobile phone before eventually allowing him to enter the country.

The team's official photographer, Talal Salah, was not as fortunate. Salah was detained for more than 10 hours and underwent similar invasive inspections before being completely denied entry into the United States.

No official explanation for the decision was made public.

Iran: Players in, staff out, fans nowhere

The geopolitical friction has hit Iran the hardest. Fourteen essential staff members were initially denied visas to enter the United States, despite the fact that all three of Iran's group stage games are scheduled to be held there. 

Consequently, the team was forced to establish its training base across the border in Mexico, permitted to cross into the US only on match days. As for ordinary Iranian supporters who bought tickets and dreamed of watching their national team on the big stage, they received no visas at all.

Sniffer dogs for Uzbekistan but dignity for the West

After arriving in New York for a pre-tournament against the Netherlands, the Uzbekistan national team had their bags gathered publicly on the tarmac and thoroughly inspected by a sniffer dog. Coaching staff were told to hand over their smartphones and empty their pockets immediately after stepping off the team bus. Notably, the Netherlands players did not undergo any similar invasive screening measures.

Senegal's players faced comparable, highly racialised treatment. They were lined up with arms outstretched while officers carried out handheld scans, all while security dogs sniffed intensely around their personal luggage. Images quickly circulated on social media of a prominent Senegalese player having the soles of his feet scanned by a metal detector wand. 

These are international footballers at the absolute peak of their careers, yet they were treated upon arrival not as celebrated athletes, but as criminal suspects.

Fifa's silence as a political statement

What makes this entire situation so corrosive is what Fifa has actively refused to do. The organisation deferred entirely to the host government's whims. The double standard is clearly visible. 

The tournament expanded its format to 48 teams precisely to project an image of global inclusivity. But that "global" part of that promise applies exclusively to those visiting from countries that Washington considers politically friendly.

What this means for us

In Dhaka, we will continue to wave our flags. We will stay up late, drink tea and argue intensely about tactical formations. We will choose to feel, for a few fleeting weeks, that football belongs to us too. But the 2026 World Cup has made one reality clear to us: the modern game belongs to the Global South only as consumers. We are welcome as spectators, as the compliant people who buy the jerseys, watch the advertisements and boost the broadcasting ratings. 

When it comes to actually showing up on the pitch as a referee, behind the lens as a photographer or in the stands as a fan, the gatekeepers of the game have a very clear, discriminatory idea of who is welcome and who is not.

The author is a communication associate at International Institute of Law and Diplomacy (IILD).

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.