Omar Artan ban makes FIFA look daft – USA shouldn’t be hosting the World Cup | Football | Sport

FIFA have once again been made to look ridiculous ahead of the World Cup, which has already turned into a circus act. A ball hasn’t even been kicked yet, with Mexico and South Africa getting the tournament underway on Thursday night. However, the build-up has been nothing short of farcical. Who could have seen that coming?

The answer to that question is pretty much everybody with a brain cell, given that the tournament is primarily being held in the USA. The same country that has been a worldwide laughing stock for the last 10 years. The same country packed full of useful idiots who gleefully elected Donald Trump as their president not once, but twice.

As soon as it was revealed that the USA would co-host the World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico, it was clear that it wouldn’t be a normal tournament.

When the USA entered the bidding process, questions were raised over the travel bans Trump had in place at the time, primarily banning nationals from predominantly Muslim countries.

In response, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said: “Teams who qualify for a World Cup need to have access to the country, otherwise there is no World Cup. That is obvious.”

Nevertheless, the USA were granted hosting rights in spite of those travel restrictions. Maybe FIFA thought Trump would no longer be in office by the time the World Cup rolled around. If that was the case, they seriously underestimated the stupidity of the American public.

Infantino doubled down on that claim last year, stating: “It’s important to clarify this. There is a lot of misconception out there. Everyone will be welcome in Canada, Mexico and the United States for the FIFA World Cup next year.”

Now, the same man who inexplicably created the ‘FIFA Peace Prize’ just to hand it to warmonger Trump at last year’s draw ceremony is looking more ridiculous than ever before.

So far, players from Senegal and Uzbekistan have been treated like criminals upon arrival in the USA, being given full searches by airport security.

Omar Artan, widely considered Africa’s top referee and selected for the World Cup on merit, was sent back to Somalia after having his visa denied.

Iraq striker Aymen Hussein was detained at O’Hare International Airport and questioned for seven hours before he was finally allowed to enter the country.

The team’s photographer, Talal Salah, wasn’t so lucky. He was sent back to Iraq after being denied entry, with Customs and Border Patrol explaining that he was ‘determined to be inadmissible and was denied entry due to vetting concerns’.

Around 40 members of Morocco’s official supporter group were denied visas for the World Cup despite having tickets. They said that no clear reasons were given as to why their visas were rejected.

A significant chunk of Iran’s backroom staff were also barred from entering the USA, and there hasn’t been a single word from Infantino despite his insistence that everybody would be welcome.

There’s also been complete silence from deranged Trump fanatics, who usually overlap with the people who scream and cry about ‘keeping politics out of football’ at every given opportunity.

Now, on the eve of the World Cup, it’s never been clearer that the self-proclaimed ‘greatest country in the world’ should never have been allowed to host it under the current regime.

But this is FIFA we are talking about, the same organisation that handed it to Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022. Perhaps their next move will be to invite North Korea into the bidding process for a future tournament.

Get the latest World Cup news straight to your inbox by signing up to our Make Football Great Again newsletter now!