Rights group urges FIFA World Cup sponsors to demand 'ICE truce'

'FIFA’s corporate sponsors together pay billions of dollars because they want to be associated with ‘the beautiful game,’ not the US government’s cruel immigration crackdown,' says Human Rights Watch official.

A pair of rights groups urged corporate sponsors of the FIFA World Cup to demand that US federal authorities refrain from launching immigration enforcement operations at all World Cup events and venues.

Human Rights Watch and the Sport & Rights Alliance's demand for an "ICE truce" comes as President Donald Trump's administration has vowed to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at World Cup matches and events.

Officials said the agents would not be carrying out large-scale raids, but concerns have continued to mount about a chilling effect that the deployment could have for fans and World Cup workers.

“FIFA’s corporate sponsors together pay billions of dollars because they want to be associated with ‘the beautiful game,’ not the US government’s cruel immigration crackdown,” Minky Worden, a senior official at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

“World Cup sponsors and partners should call for an ICE Truce as the best way to ensure the tournament is not tarnished by the Trump administration’s abusive immigration policies," she added.

A series of groups wrote to 19 World Cup sponsors in May and June. A total of six companies -- Adidas, Coca-Cola, Lenovo, McDonald’s, Unilever and Visa -- replied, but provided "no direct comment on their support for an ICE Truce," said Human Rights Watch.

Instead, the companies told the groups that they regularly engage with FIFA on rights issues.

"We routinely and regularly engage with FIFA and relevant stakeholders on human rights risks associated with its tournaments, including the 2026 FIFA World Cup," McDonald's said in a letter, the content of which was shared by Human Rights Watch.

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