The former Fifa president backed a Swiss lawyer who called for a boycott of the tournament due to security concerns in the US

Former Fifa president Sepp Blatter on Monday suggested he supports fans boycotting World Cup matches in the United States this year due to security concerns.

Blatter gave his support to comments from Swiss anti-corruption lawyer Mark Pieth, who worked with Fifa on potential reforms when Blatter was president, saying fans should stay away from the US for the tournament.

“I think Mark Pieth is right to question this World Cup,” Blatter said on social media.

Pieth cited the killing of protester Renee Good by an American immigration agent in Minneapolis earlier this month as one reason for supporters not to travel to the US. Blatter’s endorsement of Pieth’s comments comes in the wake of the death of a second US citizen, Alex Pretti, last weekend.

  • jj4211@lemmy.worldEnglish
    12·
    20 hours ago

    I have a number of colleagues in Europe that normally I occasionally see. Since ICE ramped up last year, none of them have set foot on American soil at all. No one wants to risk even legally being in this mess.

    • Tollana1234567@lemmy.todayEnglish
      1·
      12 hours ago

      the first sign was trump harrassing and detaining foreigners, but that seemed to have dropped off the face of conservative owned MSMs(likely it was hurting GOP-states tourism business alot) coincidentally msm also stopped reporting on how bad tourism is doing in GOP controlled states.