Featured Image Credit: Kevin Dietsch/Getty
Topics: Donald Trump, Football, Sport, Immigration
Ella Scott
Topics: Donald Trump, Football, Sport, Immigration
Soccer fans planning to flock to the United States this summer to play their part in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup have been sternly reminded they must carry a precious item on their persons at all times - or face the consequences.
Today (June 14), the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)’s reshaped Men’s Club World Cup is set to start at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
The stateside competition will see 32 soccer teams, including defending 2023 champions Manchester City, competing against international rivals in a total of 63 matches set over 29 days.
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The 21st edition of the sports tournament sees David Beckham’s Inter Miami CF taking on Cairo-based club Al Ahly in the opening game.
The likes of Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, and Sergio Busquets are hoping to get their mitts on the $131.5million winner’s jackpot, but the Herons face stiff competition from UEFA Champions League 2025 winners Paris Saint-Germain and three-time UEFA Europa League winners Atlético Madrid.
Portuguese sides Benfica and Porto - as well as Argentina’s Boca Juniors and a quartet of Brazilian teams - presumably plan to hoist the brand-new Club World Cup trophy on July 13 at the Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
But as the big kick-off looms, talk has quickly turned to how the plethora of international fans, set to descend on venues such as the Los Angeles Rose Bowl and Audi Field in Washington D.C., will fare amid the Trump Administration’s recent anti-immigration crackdown.
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Protests and riots have been staged in Los Angeles after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducted arrest operations that targeted illegal immigrants with criminal records.
US President Donald Trump, 79, activated the California National Guard and U.S. Marines in an attempt to subdue the crowds. Other federal law enforcement agencies are also turning their attention to to the city, as per Fox News.
“Keeping President Trump’s promise to deport illegal aliens is something the administration takes seriously,” a White House spokesperson told the Journal of the Administration’s efforts.
Speaking about how safe the forthcoming FIFA Club World Cup will be for international fans, United States Customs and Border Protection took to social media and wrote: “Let the games begin!
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“The first FIFA Club World Cup games start on June 14th in Miami… CBP will be suited and booted and ready to provide security for the first round of games.”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will also be at the games, according to a report by NBC Miami.
ICE reportedly told the publication that they would be in attendance as part of the security team.
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The statement also warned that all non-American citizens hoping to gain entry to the stadiums must carry proof of their legal status at all times.
"Let the fans come. We want them to celebrate. We want them to watch the matches. But when the tournament is over, they will have to go home," US Vice President JD Vance, 40, recently said during a press conference ahead of teh Club World Cup and the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Meanwhile, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, 55, has claimed he personally has ‘no’ concerns about ICE and CBP agents being present at any of the upcoming Club World Cup games.
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“I don’t have any concerns about anything in the sense that we are very attentive on any security question, of course the most important for us is to guarantee security for all the fans who come to the games, this is our priority,” he told reporters earlier this week.
In a similar vein, Daniella Levine Cava, the Mayor of Miami-Dade County, Florida, said that federal agents being at the game is a way to ensure soccer fans are ‘safe’.
“That’s our focus, to work with all of the law enforcement personnel, our safety personnel, and make sure they have a seamless experience,” the 69-year-old Democrat added.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has previously extended an invitation to Trump to attend the Club World Cup final next month.
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“I spoke to the president on Saturday night, invited him to the Club World Cup final,” he said, as per the New York Post. “I’m not sure he could come.”
The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup takes place between June 14 and July 13 across the United States.