HRW reveals migrant arrested during the Club World Cup final: ‘The World Cup cannot be a way to entrap fans’

FIFA president Gianni Infantino and U.S. president Donald Trump have gone out of their way to emphasize the importance of security ahead of the 2026 World Cup. Fans, both local and foreign, have been told they need not fear criminals. But the fans and workers who attend the tournament may instead fear federal agents who, since the start of the Republican’s second administration, have roamed the country — often with their faces covered and without any identifying insignia — looking for people to detain and deport.

On Wednesday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) revealed that an asylum seeker had been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on the day of the Club World Cup final, this past July 13, and later deported, raising serious concerns ahead of next summer’s tournament. “The World Cup cannot be a way to entrap Latino fans. It would be the worst perversion of the idea of football as the beautiful game,” warns Minky Worden, HRW’s Director of Global Initiatives.

But that perversion, as it turns out, had already made its appearance in the stands. While President Trump attended the VIP box at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium to enjoy the decisive match between Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain last July, two children — ages 14 and 10 — were sitting in their seats among more than 80,000 spectators, but they were alone. Minutes earlier, their father had been arrested in the parking lot of a nearby mall. The minors decided to enter the stadium, encouraged by their father, because they all believed they would reunite once the misunderstanding was cleared up.

Police had initially detained him to issue a citation for improperly flying a small drone to take photos and videos. But they then brought him inside the stadium for further questioning and ultimately handed him over to ICE custody, despite the fact that his young children had no other guardian and that he had a valid work permit while his asylum claim was pending. The man — whose name and nationality have been withheld for fear of reprisals both in the United States and in his home country — spent three months in a New Jersey immigration detention center called Delaney Hall. In October, he chose voluntary deportation, unable to withstand the terrible conditions any longer and wanting to protect his family.

“This is not an isolated case,” Worden says. “The data we’ve amassed indicates that the risk for FIFA across 78 matches in the United States is huge.” According to information from the Deportation Data Project analyzed by HRW, between January 20 and July 29 of this year, immigration authorities made 55,749 arrests in areas where World Cup matches will be played. On top of that, in recent days and weeks the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant and xenophobic rhetoric has hardened even further, and the White House is not ruling out raids during the World Cup.

On Wednesday, Trump ally Andrew Giuliani, the White House representative on the FIFA working group and son of the former New York mayor, addressed the case highlighted by HRW at a press conference. “As for the illegal individual who was detained, he was violating a temporary flight restriction with an anti-UAS — with a drone, I should say — so obviously that’s in line with what the president has said about wanting to ensure that these games are safe and secure. There will be no tolerance for people flying their drones around these stadiums during the matches,” he insisted, leaning on the drone violation and avoiding any mention of the two minors left without their legal guardian.

Last week, HRW sent a letter to Infantino — obtained by EL PAÍS — informing FIFA of the ICE arrest near MetLife Stadium over the summer and requesting information about measures and protocols to protect migrants and minors during the tournament. They also asked whether FIFA had received guarantees from the Trump administration. So far, FIFA has not responded directly to HRW’s letter, though it has said that the arrest in question is not its responsibility because it occurred in an area separate from the stadium — the adjacent parking lot — and they have no record of anyone with the detainee’s name purchasing a ticket. The family says they bought the tickets on the secondary market.

Just days before the official draw for the largest World Cup in history, HRW’s revelation joins a call from a coalition of human rights groups led by the Sport & Rights Alliance urging respect for the rights and freedoms of those attending the tournament next summer. “Workers, athletes, fans, and communities make the World Cup possible,” said Andrea Florence, executive director of the Sport & Rights Alliance. “The 2026 World Cup is the first to begin with human rights criteria embedded in the bidding process. But the deteriorating human rights situation in the United States has put those commitments at risk.” The coalition’s statement, released 200 days before the tournament begins, underscores the growing attacks and persecution of immigrants in the United States, as well as FIFA’s cancellation of anti-discrimination messages and the threats to press freedom.

For HRW’s Worden, the situation of Haitians in the United States encapsulates the issue. Last week, the Trump administration ended Temporary Protected Status for Haiti, which had allowed hundreds of thousands of Haitians to live in the U.S. for decades. “In the context of the World Cup, this is extremely alarming because the Haitian national team has qualified for the tournament for the first time in 52 years. So many Haitians whose legal status changed overnight may go to cheer for their team without knowing they could be at risk of deportation.”

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