The Palestinian football leader says he was not granted a US visa to attend the World Cup World Cup 2026 news

Jibril Rajoub is in Mexico waiting for a US visa to attend the 2026 World Cup.

The head of the Palestinian Football Association said he is waiting in Mexico City to receive permission to enter the United States to participate in the event. FIFA World Cup and other community leaders.

Jibril Rajoub took part in the opening match in midfield Mexico and South Africa Thursday, but now he has joined several World Cup qualifiers who have been denied visas or have yet to receive them from the US.

“I don’t believe it is right to use or abuse and deny the right of football players around the world to participate,” the former Palestinian politician told the Associated Press news agency.

The Palestinian team did not qualify for the World Cup, but FIFA usually invites the heads of the world’s football governing bodies to the event every four years, which it frames as a celebration of international solidarity.

“Everyone will be welcomed in Canada, Mexico and the United States at the FIFA World Cup next year. We are working precisely,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said last year.

The US, however, has denied entry to delegates from many countries, including a Somali actor is a travel photographer with an Iraqi group.

Infantino said this week that FIFA has been trying to solve the visa problem but cannot overcome the US government.

“We have to respect that we are not the kings of the world who can control the governments and the police,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

The US State Department had no immediate comment on Rajoub’s visa, but last year it imposed new restrictions on Palestinian passport holders, including anyone employed by the Palestinian Authority.

It revoked a visa allowing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to attend the United Nations General Assembly last September.

Rajoub and other Palestinian football officials have argued that Israel is breaking the law by allowing teams based in the West Bank to play in the Israeli league.

He pushed for FIFA to recognize Israel, highlighting travel restrictions on Palestinian players and how Israel’s war on Gaza has damaged or destroyed 80 percent of games and killed at least 565 players there, according to the organization.

Last month, Rajoub refused to shake hands with the head of Israel’s football governing body following Infantino’s instructions because he said doing so would not heal wounds but clean up what Israel had done.

Rajoub also said that when Russia hosted the 2018 World Cup, it did not impose similar visa restrictions on those invited to the tournament.