Havana, June 13 (RHC) – Expressions of solidarity with Cuba were abundant in Los Angeles prior to the start of the first match of the 2026 World Cup in the United States, one of the three venues for the football tournament.
Members of the LA Hands-off Cuba committee, accompanied by local residents, distributed pamphlets providing information about the consequences of the brutal economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed on the Cuban people for more than six decades.
The goal, the initiative’s organizers stated, was to highlight the need for support for the island at a time of growing threats of U.S. military aggression.
The activists joined other Los Angeles groups demanding that the World Cup be free of operations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency that is the public face of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration agenda.
On the eve of the tournament’s start, more than 120 civil rights groups in the United States issued a joint travel alert warning soccer fans—even those with visas—about the risk of facing immigration detention or deportation upon arrival in the country.
For example, Omar Artar, who was making history as the first Somali referee at a World Cup, was denied entry upon arrival at Miami International Airport.
Tickets for Iranian fans were revoked, travel permits for Scottish spectators were withdrawn, and visas for Moroccan supporters were denied.
The Department of Homeland Security interrogated Iraqi soccer star Aymen Hussein for seven hours at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport; likewise, the entire Iranian team was denied the right to stay overnight in the United States, so they are staying in Mexico and will travel to Los Angeles for their next match.
Furthermore, there is criticism of the World Cup’s high costs. According to activist Mark Friedman, the matches have been completely commercialized by FIFA and its sponsoring corporations. They have become a global spectacle designed to generate billions of dollars, he added.
The United States has also denied visas to numerous Cuban athletes seeking entry to the country to participate in qualifying matches for the 2028 Olympic Games, which will also be hosted by Los Angeles, Friedman noted.
He emphasized that an international campaign is currently underway to demand that the International Olympic Committee comply with its own regulations and put pressure on Washington.
With 48 participating teams and 104 matches across the three host countries (United States, Mexico, and Canada), the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicked off on June 11 and will run until Sunday, July 19, when the final will be held at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, which has a capacity of over 80,000 spectators.
