World Cup Fans Face $15,000 U.S. Entry Bonds as FIFA Presses Trump Administration for Relief

New York – When Cape Verde’s Blue Sharks take the field for their first-ever World Cup match next summer, the tiny Atlantic island nation will make history. Whether many of their supporters will be inside the stadium to see it is suddenly an open question.

Fans of six qualified nations—Algeria, Senegal, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Tunisia and Iran—must now post a refundable $15,000 (£11,230) bond to obtain a U.S. tourist visa for the tournament, according to documents obtained by The Athletic. The demand, part of a State Department “visa bond pilot program,” applies to each traveler and covers the five-week window of the 2026 finals hosted across 11 American cities.

The requirement lands atop existing travel bans reinstated after President Donald Trump’s second inauguration in January 2025. While players and immediate relatives are expected to receive exemptions, ordinary supporters are not. FIFA is lobbying Washington to extend waivers to football delegations, arguing that formal invitation letters should suffice in place of cash deposits. Supporters, however, remain bound by the bond rule.

“How able will the average fan be to stump up another $15,000 when they are already shelling out for tickets and travel?” The Athletic’s lead writer Phil Hay notes in today’s newsletter. “I know I couldn’t.”

A State Department spokesperson told the outlet the government is “engaging robustly with FIFA in support of the largest and greatest FIFA World Cup in history,” but offered no indication that fans will be spared the financial hurdle.

The bond payments are technically refundable upon timely departure from the United States, yet the upfront cost threatens to hollow out sections of stadiums just as FIFA president Gianni Infantino promises the “most inclusive” World Cup on record. European supporters have already filed a complaint with the European Commission over soaring ticket prices; the visa bond adds another layer of exclusivity.

Meanwhile, the global scramble for star power ahead of the tournament is accelerating. Hours after Liverpool confirmed Mohamed Salah will leave Anfield this summer, Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber made plain his desire to land the Egyptian forward.

“I’d love to see him in our league,” Garber said. “I couldn’t say that until he announced he was leaving Liverpool. We’d provide him with a great platform.”

No formal offers have surfaced from MLS clubs—San Diego, frequently linked with marquee signings, have opted against a bid—but precedent exists for blockbuster recruitment. Apple’s financial muscle helped deliver Lionel Messi to Inter Miami in 2023, and both LA Galaxy and Miami are now pursuing 34-year-old Manchester United midfielder Casemiro. Salah turns 34 in June and, by statistical measures, is entering the twilight of his career, yet his commercial pull remains immense.

Away from boardrooms and bond offices, the grassroots game is grappling with a darker trend. The UK’s amateur leagues recorded 4,649 serious disciplinary allegations in 2024-25, including physical assaults and verbal threats. The Football Association estimates that for every reported incident more than two go unrecorded. Welsh side Trearddur Bay released forward Tom Taylor after video appeared to show him elbowing an opponent; police continue to weigh criminal charges.

“Why, on the football pitch, they feel like that’s OK, I have no idea,” one player told The Athletic’s Tom Burrows, summing up a growing unease at the erosion of respect in park football.

With World Cup qualifying play-off semi-finals set for this week—Turkey vs Romania, Italy vs Northern Ireland and Wales vs Bosnia among the highlights—attention is fixed on who will reach the finals. Yet for supporters of Africa’s qualifiers and Iran, the more pressing question may be whether they can afford to follow their teams at all.