US President Donald Trump signs an even more expansive travel ban. This new policy bars entry from 12 majority-Muslim countries and places restrictions on travel from seven others. This proclamation has raised concerns for all athletes, particularly those who are currently training for international competitions. In particular, it has adopted an exemption for players, staff and families associated with teams participating in other high-profile events such as the Club World Cup, FIFA World Cup and the Olympics.
The 12 countries facing a complete travel ban are: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. At the same time, seven countries—Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela—will face increased limitations on travel to the US. These prohibitions make life much more difficult for athletes from these countries. They might find it difficult to get to future events hosted on US soil.
Despite the travel ban’s stringent measures, an exemption allows “any athlete or member of an athletic team, including coaches, persons performing a necessary support role, and immediate relatives,” to travel for major competitions as determined by the Secretary of State. Athletes & their support teams stand to benefit enormously from this exemption. It will determine their participation in the 2025 Club World Cup, the 2026 FIFA World Cup on home soil, and 2028 Olympics.
In addition, Iran, having already qualified for the 2026 World Cup, would see its athletes insulated from deportation by this exemption. Mehdi Taremi, the Iranian goal-scorer, plays for a US-based club. Though the limitations seem strong, he might still be able to be a part of the tournament. On the other end, Venezuela has a lot to gain from this provision. The trio of Salomón Rondón, Jefferson Savarino and Darwin Machís now light up Major League Soccer (MLS).
The countries that would be on that ban list are still in contention for World Cup qualification. As an example, Sudan is only one point away from earning automatic qualification in their group, and Equatorial Guinea and Libya are still mathematically alive though their odds of progressing are very low. Haiti seemed set to start making headway in Concacaf World Cup qualification.
Venezuela is in a very delicate moment. As it stands, Brazil find themselves in seventh place in South American qualifying and five points behind Colombia for one of four automatic World Cup berths. Yet despite these narrow defeats, they remain in contention for qualification via an inter-confederation playoff route.
The recently announced travel restrictions have brought that into serious question, as international athletes may face banishment from participating in the games. The exemption provides a humanitarian lifeline to the millions. It remains to be seen whether the use of the term “World Cup” in the travel ban covers both the 2026 tournament and the 2025 Club World Cup. This ambiguity may have major implications for affected teams’ planning and participation strategies.