Milagros Tolón reproaches the US for denying visas at the World Cup: “It goes against the principles of sport”

The Minister of Education, Vocational Training and Sports, Milagros Tolón, has stated that “it goes against the principles of sport” for the United States Government to deny access to its country to foreign citizens such as Somali referee Omar Artan ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, a tournament co-organized with Mexico and Canada.

“Not only the referee, who is also from Somalia, but also the fans who in some way limit their entry. It seems to me that it is very regrettable, it goes against the principles of sport and we have what we have, the sovereignty of the United States is their sovereignty, their own. But well, it is very regrettable, honestly,” Tolón declared this Thursday in a special program about the World Cup on RNE’s Radio 5.

“I hope to be here before July 19 to say ‘we are going to the final’ and surely for Spain to win this World Cup, I am clear about it,” said the minister a few days before the ‘Red’ debut. “We have a good selection, we have desire, enthusiasm, etc. Why not?” he added.

“I’m going to try to see all the games I can; those of our national team, of course. But I also like football, I like sport. I like football and I believe that the World Cup is not just sport, it is many more things and I will see as many as I can,” he insisted.

Then the minister revealed a recent talk with Luis de la Fuente, Spain coach. “He was very calm, he was resting, he also told me that the team was calm, that they were fine, that they had had a bad trip in Puebla to get there,” he said.

“He is a man who has a lot of strength, I know him not only from talking to him, but also from his career. He is a man who has a lot of strength, I saw him very calm and very confident. That, in addition, gave me more security, and I also gave him all my support, not only as a minister, but as a Spaniard, as a fan of soccer and our team. The truth is that it was a very kind conversation,” she added.

“We have a good team, the selection is a good selection, there are 26 players perfectly selected by the coach and I also believe that it is a selection that is very similar to what sport is now in the 21st century: diverse, very complete and that combines very well,” Tolón defined about the ‘Red’ that will compete in this tournament.

He then gave his opinion on the problems of entering the US: “We are seeing it in general, not only in sport, but in general and this affects sport, it affects teams, it affects national teams, it affects in this case referees, fans who cannot arrive due to immigration limitation problems; it is not easy and it is also very unpleasant.”

In this sense, he appreciated the apparent inaction of the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino. “I think it has its limitations. FIFA has tried, Infantino actually tried in some way. But we know what is happening in the world, it is not easy, it not only happens in sport with the United States and it is very regrettable,” he argued.

Not in vain, it seems like a missed opportunity for the US to open up to all cultures. “Having who they have as president, they are not going to do it,” he alluded to Donald Trump. “Unfortunately they are not going to do it and this transcends sport. We are seeing this in international politics, and here as we see it is also reflected in sport, a World Cup that practically everyone will see,” the minister warned about its scope.

“The issue of migration, the issue of regularization of migrants, the issue of treating all people equally simply because they are people… It is what is not really being done in the United States and that is automatically transmitted in sport,” he stressed.

“I wish we were all more aware of what is happening. Because many people now find out about what is happening in the US through sports, but unfortunately this has been happening for a couple of years, with this man being president,” he completed his response.

On the other hand, Tolón analyzed the progress on the 2030 World Cup. “The Government is totally focused on the organization. You know perfectly well that we have a relationship with FIFA, which is now focused on the 26 World Cup. But we are already doing our work and our work has consisted not only of carrying out those contacts with FIFA itself, but also of creating those working groups that were already closely related to what FIFA stated: eight working groups where there are more than a hundred people already working,” he explained.

“In these inter-ministerial meetings, next week we are going to have the third, where there are 15 ministries involved that have responsibility for organizing the World Cup. And also, of course, with sports entities; with the Royal Spanish Football Federation, which for us is very important that we organize the World Cup; and also with very important sports agents,” he said in this regard.

“It is good for us to see the, in quotes, mistakes that can be made; hopefully there are no mistakes, and where we can improve so that it is also the best World Cup in the history of football. And furthermore, Spain is very used to holding international events, not only sporting events, that cross borders, and with the organization that we have. And above all, not only with the organization, but with the entire country getting involved, in this case we do very spectacular sporting events and I believe that the 2030 World Cup is going to be the best World Cup in the history of football,” the minister predicted about the next event.

“I think that Spain is the ideal country to host the 2030 World Cup final, for many reasons. The first, because of the infrastructure that we have already built and completed. Secondly, especially because of the relationship we have had with football for many years. And thirdly, because we are going to have the best team we can have,” he stressed.

“I believe that there is no division because what we want is for the final to be in Spain. That is the first objective of this Government. Therefore, here it is not divided. On the contrary. I believe that having so many important venues what it does is unite and have an important power of sports infrastructures in this case,” said the minister.

“In addition to the 2030 World Cup, we have important sporting challenges. We have on the 29th, that we are going to have the Eurobasket here. We also have the 35th, that we are in some way participating so that we have the Rugby World Cup here. This is very important as a country, as a Spain brand, because of what sport means not only from the sporting point of view, from the point of view of Spain’s country image, but also from the economic point of view because sport is almost 4% of the Gross Domestic Product,” he concluded. Toulon on RNE.