By Paul Nicholson in Los Angeles
June 13 – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will be active at the Club World Cup that kicks off on Saturday at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami and throughout the month-long tournament.
They can also be expected to show a presence at the Concacaf Gold Cup that also kicks off at the weekend with more than 50,000 tickets sold for the defending champions Mexico’s clash with Dominican Republic at the SoFi Stadium in LA.
With ticket sales in Miami at considerably less than the stadium’s capacity, the focus will inevitably be on the SoFi and Mexico’s fan base in the city that this week has been the centre of global attention as peaceful protests in downturn LA turned – in some cases – violent.
The news that ICE would be active at football matches came out as a social media post on U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s official Instagram site.
“Let the games begin,” said the post. “The first FIFA Club World Cup games start on June 14 in Miami, FL at the Hard Rock Stadium. CBP will be suited and booted ready to provide security for the first round of games.”
The post was quickly removed but it was too late and will be damaging for football if fans – whether in the country illegally or not – stay away from games for fear of the aggressive over-policing and rhetoric exhibited to date by US president Donald Trump’s agencies and close political leaders.
A Mexico pre-Gold Cup friendly match against Switzerland on Tuesday saw just 25,000 fans in the 55,000 capacity Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Mexico generally sell-out stadiums of that side wherever they play in the US.
The message was clear. Trump’s administration has struck fear and distrust deep into the hearts of his own citizens whether they in the country legally or otherwise. The knock-on effect may not have been to intentionally damage football’s financial ecosystem but the reality is that it has.
With authorities, presumably by error, letting it be known that they will target football fans at these major events, all the promises of welcoming the world’s nations whoever they are in 2026 to a celebration and party are looking hollow. People from 12 of those nations – including Iran who were one of the first nations to qualify for the 2026 finals – are already under a US travel ban.
Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard and even armed Marines, sparked fury from Californian governors and officials who said they had the situation under control and had neither asked for or needed the National Guard. The result has been only to pour oil on the embers of simmering protests as ICE stepped up their raids throughout Southern California. Californian officials claim this was the intention.
A US District Judge on Thursday ruled that Donald Trump exceeded his presidential power and that control of the Calfornia National Guard should be handed back to Calfornia state officials. Late Thursday night a ruling by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals paused the court order leaving the thousands of National Guard currently in Los Angeles under President Trump’s control.
Against this politically weaponised turmoil, the major football events about to kick off (football has until recently been regarded as the sport for US immigrants), have been caught in the middle as they approach their big kick-offs.
FIFA and its president Gianni Infantino had already kicked their ball firmly in the direction of the Republican administration as Infantino built on his Trump bromance – even missing and then delaying his own members’ annual meet and congress to travel on a Trump trade mission.
Concacaf, the bulk of whose members are seeing former citizens targeted, often brutally, by ICE, has kept its own counsel, attempting to keep minds focussed on the football.
“We are very attentive on any security question,” Infantino said. “Of course, the most important [thing] for us is to guarantee security for all the fans who come to the games. This is our priority. This is the priority of all the authorities who are here.
“And we want everyone who comes to the games to pass a good moment.”
Concacaf said that it was following all its usual security and safety measures for a major event, working with its local law enforcement partners. And they have the experience of delivering multiple big stadium sellouts in the US and handling Mexico’s passionate supporters in the US.
With many Californian elected officials and community leaders still advocating peaceful protest, the SoFi Stadium has set up a designated protest area near the Stadium for Saturday.
All eyes will be on the SoFi Stadium on Saturday with perhaps the crucial outcome being how Trump’s enforcement agencies behave ahead of the 2026 World Cup, the greatest and most unifying show on earth.
A bad outcome for football and its fans this summer will almost certainly unite calls around the world for the US to be stripped of hosting 2026. It will also play badly for Infantino who is rapidly losing the support and trust in his decision-making of key members within his own organisation.
Much is now out of the hands of football’s administrators and will depend on how an emboldened ICE, which seems to have no ‘off’ button, behaves. Saturday and the soft global politics of football at the SoFi could prove to be the political litmus test of how this how conflict is going to progress – not just in US but within the game’s governing bodies.
The world will be watching the Gold Cup in a way they have never watched football before.
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