Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter Supports Calls to Boycott 2026 World Cup

JAKARTA - Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter, on Monday, January 26, 2026, supported the call for fans to "stay away" from the 2026 World Cup in the United States (US) because of the behavior of President Donald Trump and his administration at home and abroad.

Blatter is the latest international football figure to question the United States' suitability as a host nation in a post on X, backing Mark Pieth's comments from last week's interview with Swiss newspaper Der Bund.

Pieth, a Swiss lawyer specializing in white-collar crime and an anti-corruption expert, led the Independent Governance Committee's oversight of FIFA's reforms a decade ago.

Blatter, who served as FIFA President from 1998 to 2015, felt how "hard" Pieth was. He resigned amid a corruption investigation led by the lawyer. Even so, Blatter this time agreed with Pieth.

"If we consider all that we have discussed, there is only one advice for fans, stay away from the US! You will see it better on TV."

"Once there, fans should be prepared that if they are not pleasing to the officials, they will be sent home immediately on the next flight, if they are lucky," Pieth said in an interview with Der Bund.

In the X post, Blatter quoted Pieth and added: "I think Mark Pieth is right to question this 2026 World Cup."

The United States will co-host the 2026 World Cup with Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19.

International soccer communities' concerns about the United States stem from Trump's expansionist stance on Greenland, travel bans, and aggressive tactics in dealing with migrants and immigration enforcement demonstrators in US cities, particularly Minneapolis.

Oke Gottlich, one of the Vice Presidents of the German Football Association (DFB), told the Hamburger Morgenpost newspaper in an interview last weekend that it was time to seriously consider boycotting the 2026 World Cup.

Two weeks ago, travel plans for fans from Africa's top two football nations were thrown into chaos when the Trump administration announced a ban that would effectively bar people from Senegal and Ivory Coast from following their teams unless they already had a visa.

Trump cited a lack of screening and testing as the main reason for the delay.

Fans from Iran and Haiti, two other countries that have qualified for the 2026 World Cup, will also be barred from entering the United States. They were included in the first travel ban announced by the Trump administration.

Meanwhile, this summer's 2026 World Cup has faced heavy criticism from fan groups over ticket prices due to unprecedented demand.

The use of dynamic pricing has made the ticket price for Category 1 for the final at MetLife Stadium on July 19, 2026, set at US$8,680 (around Rp145.8 million).

FIFA President Gianni Infantino added last weekend that the high prices could also be further affected by fans who already hold tickets and want to resell them for a profit on resale sites, thus raising prices.

"People want to go. They will go and celebrate together. We always, always celebrate football together," Infantino said on Monday, January 26, 2026, when asked about the message posted by Blatter on social media, reported ESPN.