FIFA's image gets red card as World Cup controversy kicks off early

The FIFA World Cup 2026 was supposed to be about football. Instead, some of the tournament's biggest headlines have centred on who can access it.

Reports of visa complications, travel restrictions and entry denials involving fans, officials and tournament personnel have raised questions around accessibility and inclusivity, creating an unexpected challenge for organisers as the tournament gets underway across the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The scrutiny comes during the largest World Cup in history. Featuring 48 teams and 104 matches across three host nations, the expanded tournament is expected to attract millions of travelling fans and a global audience in the billions.

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Among the most widely reported cases was Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan, who was denied entry into the United States despite holding a valid visa and FIFA accreditation, preventing him from participating in the tournament.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has also publicly addressed concerns surrounding visa processing and entry requirements, while stressing that immigration decisions ultimately rest with national governments.

Yet while many of these issues sit outside FIFA's direct control, the organisation remains at the centre of the conversation. As the body responsible for the world's biggest sporting event, can FIFA avoid absorbing the reputational fallout from challenges it did not create?

The World Cup of chaos

For Jose Raymond, former sports journalist and managing director of SW Strategies, the answer is increasingly difficult. He said the 2026 tournament is already being regarded by some as the "World Cup of chaos", with incidents leading up to kick-off reinforcing that perception.

"The FIFA World Cup is more than a sporting event as it is a global symbol of inclusivity, unity and international participation," said Raymond.

"National teams and players, officials and referees spend years preparing and qualifying," he said, adding that what is happening at the 2026 World Cup has "turned the football fiesta into an early football fiasco". 

According to Raymond, the controversy presents a significant reputational challenge for FIFA because the organisation is ultimately judged not just on the football itself, but on the overall experience and values the tournament is expected to represent.

That view is echoed by Sharon Koh, founder of The Brand Imprint, who said the issue is particularly damaging because it has emerged before the tournament has had a chance to generate positive football-related narratives. The reputational danger lies in the fact that the controversy cuts directly against FIFA’s core positioning of the World Cup as a unifying global event, adding that when a problem hits a brand's central promise, it hits hard. 

As Koh puts it: 

It strikes the exact thing FIFA promised, a tournament that brings the world together. When a problem hits your central promise, it hits hard.

She added that FIFA’s communications so far risk making the situation worse if they appear to minimise the seriousness of the cases being reported.

“Calling this 'normal for an event of this magnitude' flattens a serious problem into routine paperwork. Long queues and the odd visa delay are normal. A referee turned away, players held at the airport and whole nationalities of ticket-holding fans barred are not," said Koh. "FIFA's response waves the issues away as business as usual, which makes it sound like a body that would rather not deal with them seriously.”

Control versus responsibility

One of FIFA’s central challenges is that immigration and border decisions are made by governments, not sporting bodies. However, communications experts argue that this distinction may offer limited protection in the court of public opinion. This is especially since the public is unlikely to separate operational authority from event responsibility when fans, players or officials are unable to take part. 

This creates a difficult balance for FIFA. The organisation must avoid appearing to challenge host governments on politically sensitive matters, while also showing fans and participating nations that it is not indifferent to their concerns. As such, FIFA's cautious tone is understandable to a degree, given the sensitivities involved. 

"When you are dealing with sovereign immigration and national security, there is a lot you simply cannot say in public. FIFA's own hands may be tied and bound to a host government that it still has to work with for this tournament. That is a real constraint and not an excuse, but it explains the vague language," explained Koh. 

The mistake wasn't staying diplomatic, she explains.  "It was letting 'we can't say much' become 'we'll say almost nothing', and leaving fans to find out the hard way."

The controversy also highlights a broader issue around risk preparation for major global events. “Nobody buys insurance after the fire. Reputation works the same way. The real protection is the assessment and mitigation you do quietly, before anything goes wrong,” said Miyagi Benjamin Lee, director at APRW. 

According to Lee, major organisations routinely plan for operational, financial and legal exposure, but reputation risk is sometimes treated as something to be handled only once a crisis becomes public. “Every organisation already accepts this logic everywhere else — it's why they carry liability cover and build redundant systems. Reputation deserves the same discipline: assess the risk, mitigate it, and have the plan in place before the event, not in the aftermath of it,” he said.

In the case of the World Cup, that means anticipating how visa restrictions, border policies and politically sensitive travel rules could affect the tournament’s promise of global inclusion, even when those decisions are outside FIFA’s direct control.

Reputation management doesn't start when something goes wrong, it starts long before, the way a hospital sets up triage before the ambulances arrive.

"You assess what's at risk, decide what gets protected first, and build in redundancy. By the time the event begins, the thinking is already done,” Lee added.

What FIFA should do now

The question now is whether FIFA can shift the narrative before the tournament becomes defined by access issues rather than football.

Koh is of the opinion that silence carries greater risk than careful engagement, because a vacuum will be filled by frustrated fans, critics and media coverage. However, she cautioned that FIFA should not make promises it cannot keep, particularly when government agencies have the final say on entry decisions. Frequent, honest, specific updates will go further in showing its commitment as the organiser to resolving the matter. 

In addition, FIFA’s response should focus less on defending itself and more on visible support for affected fans and participants. This can be via providing a real support line for entry problems, with named cases escalated and numbers of cases resolved. It could also consider focusing on customer issues resolution, protecting tickets, and promising every genuine ticket-holder a full refund or transfer if they are refused entry through no fault of their own.

Raymond added, "FIFA will need to straddle a fine line at being diplomatic, and at the same time being empathetic to the experiences of fans, officials and teams who are facing hurdles within the host nation. And we have not even started talking about the exorbitant ticket prices in this regard."

"Emphasising the actions it is taking, such as engaging with relevant authorities, seeking assurances where possible and providing timely information to affected stakeholders may be vital," he said, adding:

The goal would be to demonstrate that it is listening and acting responsibly without becoming drawn into political debates that fall outside its remit.

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