Turns out authoritarianism can be bad for business.
Sales for the FIFA Club World Cup, a series of precursor games ahead of next year’s North American World Cup, were already lackluster when, last week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection bragged online about how its agents would be “suited and booted and ready to provide security for the first round of games.”
At about the same time, Immigration and Customs Enforcement told NBC Miami they’d also be at the games providing security, and told the outlet that all non-American citizens should carry proof of their legal status.
CBP spokesperson Alan Regalado told the Miami New Times in a statement that “lawful travelers have nothing to fear from these measures.”
“CBP is working with FIFA to facilitate the lawful travel of players and fans to the FIFA Club World Cup at our ports of entry,” he said. “CBP will continue to safeguard our borders and welcome the world. From international arrivals to championship dreams, we’re here to keep it all running strong.”
Tickets to the first match, featuring soccer legend Lionel Messi’s Miami CF vs. Egypt’s Al Ahly FC at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami hit, well, rock bottom.
According to prices tracked by The Athletic, tickets that sold for $349 and up after the matches were announced in December dropped to $69.15 ahead of the Saturday night game, with tens of thousands of tickets still unsold.
The sports outlet also found a deal marketed to local college students where five tickets could be had for $20, dropping the cost per ticket to just $4.
Sources familiar with CBP’s “suited and booted” post told The New York Times it was deleted after senior FIFA personnel told the federal law enforcement agency they weren’t exactly thrilled about it.
The post nevertheless struck a nerve, with costly reverberations around the country.
On Friday, a social media account run by fans of the Seattle Reign, the NWSL team that plays at Lumen Field, which is also hosting FIFA Club World Cup matches, publicly called for its followers to skip them.
“However excited we are by the arrival of the FIFA Club World Cup in the city of Seattle, we cannot, in good faith, ask you to attend,” they wrote. “Due to the potential presence of ICE officers at the event, there is an increased likelihood that attendees will be subject to harassment and racial profiling, and potentially even unlawful detainment and deportation.
“The safety of neighbors is more important than any one soccer tournament.”
The post racked up thousands of likes before the account itself, which imitated the official team account on X, formerly Twitter, was suspended.
A spokesperson for Seattle Reign FC told HuffPost the team didn’t author the statement.
In the Los Angeles area, where President Donald Trump triggered a conflagration earlier this month by deploying federal troops to an anti-ICE protest, fans also are uncertain about attending FIFA matches at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.
One man, a 25-year-old bricklayer originally from the northern Mexico state of Monterrey, told Reuters he and his friends originally planned to see CF Monterrey face off against Inter Milan on Tuesday. Now he’s not so sure.
“I’m scared because things have got ugly. But let’s hope that things calm down a bit and let us enjoy the games,” he said. “If things get uglier, we’ll talk about it, after all we have time to decide.”
Another fan, identified only as Rafael, told Yahoo Sports he and his wife originally planned to see PSG vs. Atlético Madrid at the Rose Bowl. But after Trump’s violent crackdown, they sold their tickets, even though he’s a green card holder and in the country legally.
“I never thought I’d have to worry about being racially discriminated against at a soccer game,” he told the outlet.
“I really, really didn’t want to let [the tickets] go,” Rafael said. But he did, “out of fear of apprehension or persecution.”