Some problems at the World Cup involve team selection.
And some go far deeper than anything that happens on the pitch.
Weeks before the 2026 World Cup kicks off in North America, one of the most troubling stories of the entire tournament has nothing to do with football at all.
It’s about who gets to cover it.
FIFA urged to intervene as Iranian and African journalists denied US visas ahead of 2026 World Cup
According to The Athletic, the International Sports Press Association has written formally to FIFA demanding action after countless Iranian and African journalists were denied the visas required to cover the World Cup in the United States.
Association president Gianni Merlo sent a letter on Friday to FIFA’s director of media relations Bryan Swanson and head of media operations Jochen Steinhoff.
The backdrop to this situation lies in US immigration policy.
President Trump signed an executive order last June halting visa issuance to several countries.
The tournament includes Iran as a competing nation.
It also features ten African teams.
Algeria, Cape Verde, DR Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia.
Several of those teams require multi-entry visas because their group-stage games are split across host nations.
Yet, for journalists covering those teams who have only been granted single-entry US visas, the situation is logistically impossible.
Follow your team to Canada or Mexico for a match, and you can’t re-enter the United States for the rest of the tournament.
The athletes themselves are protected.
But that exemption does not extend to journalists.
However, the implication is stark.
Iranian fans have been effectively banned from attending their team’s matches in the United States entirely.
And now, Iranian journalists face the same barrier.
For a tournament that has been presented as a celebration of global football, the optics of denying press access are deeply uncomfortable.
The US State Department had not responded to requests for comment as of Saturday morning.
FIFA has yet to issue a public statement.
However, the World Cup begins on June 11.
The clock is running.
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