The organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) denounced this Thursday alleged acts of repression, discrimination and abuse of power by the government of President Donald Trump during the celebration of the FIFA World Cup in the United States, while accusing the governing body of soccer of not complying with the human rights commitments it assumed for the organization of the tournament.

During the presentation of a report prepared together with the Sport & Rights Alliance coalition, representatives of various organizations stated that the World Cup took place in a context marked by the immigration policies of the <a href="/topic/Trump">Trump</a> administration and by restrictions that, according to them, affected fans, referees, players and other international participants.

Minky Worden, director of Global Initiatives at Human Rights Watch, assured that the competition was overshadowed by the tightening of immigration measures in the United States and criticized that FIFA did not exert greater pressure to guarantee respect for human rights during the tournament.

“This World Cup was held against the backdrop of abusive repression against immigrants and FIFA's failure to meet its own human rights standards,” Worden said during the presentation of the report in New York.

Organizations question immigration and visa restrictions

The report pays special attention to the difficulties that citizens of several countries faced in obtaining entry visas to the United States, a situation that, according to the organizations, limited the participation of fans and relatives of players from mainly Africa and Asia.

Among the cases mentioned is that of Somali referee Omar Artan, who, according to HRW, could not enter the country despite having been designated by FIFA to participate in the tournament. They also cited the case of the mother of the Cape Verde goalkeeper, Vozinha, who reported problems with her visa that prevented her from traveling to witness her son's debut against Spain.

Ronan Evain, chief executive of Football Supporters Europe, said monitoring during the tournament found little evidence of fans coming directly from African or Asian countries.

As he explained, the majority of attendees from those regions already resided in the United States or had dual nationality. The organizations also noted that FIFA did not respond to questions raised about these cases.

The report also maintains that some people from the LGBTQ community chose not to travel to the country considering that the political environment and the recent measures promoted by the federal administration did not offer adequate conditions for their safety. Human rights defenders concluded that this event will go down in history as the “MAGA World Cup,” a tournament marked by arrests, deportations and the use of the FIFA Peace Prize as a political shield to cover up systematic abuses against the most vulnerable.

They ask for tribute to immigrants who died during ICE operations

As part of its complaints, Human Rights Watch asked FIFA to observe a minute of silence before the World Cup final in memory of Mexican Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Colombian Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, who died in separate incidents during operations by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE), according to the organizations.

Worden stated that the tribute would represent a gesture in line with the commitments acquired by FIFA in terms of human rights since it incorporated these criteria into the World Cup host selection process.

Representatives of Amnesty International participated during the same conference, who also criticized the actions of the governing body of football. Daniel Norona, the organization's advocacy director for the Americas, said FIFA did not use its influence to respond to the impact he said immigration policies had on thousands of people during the tournament.

The criticism comes as the first World Cup organized jointly by the United States, Mexico and Canada concludes, a tournament that, from its planning stage, was presented by FIFA as a competition committed to inclusion and respect for human rights. However, civil organizations maintain that the events recorded during the championship showed a wide gap between those commitments and the reality faced by various sectors of the population.

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