As the 2022 FIFA World Cup approaches, more fans are being banned.
The Buenos Aires city government listed 6,000 Argentines who will not be allowed to enter tournament stadiums, around half of whom are not allowed to attend local league matches.
“They were included for belonging to the ‘barres’ [violent fans], for participating in violent acts, for illicit associations such as ‘trapitos’ [banned street businesses] and for owing maintenance payments [from divorced parents],” the city’s justice and security minister Marcelo D’Alessandro said.
The country will send “delegates of different police bodies” to work with Qatar’s security authorities for the event, which starts on Nov. 20.
- More than 1,300 fans from England and Wales are also banned from the tournament due to past issues with soccer-related violence.
- The U.K.’s home office has warned of a possible six months in prison for defying the band.
World Cup Critics
FIFA continues to receive criticism for awarding Qatar — which has a history of alleged human rights abuses — the World Cup.
More concerns came after World Cup ambassador Khalid Salman, who is a former national team player, called homosexuality “damage in the mind” and “haram,” or forbidden, in an interview shown on Monday.
Sepp Blatter, who was FIFA president when Qatar was chosen in 2010, said the decision to award Qatar was a “mistake,” adding that after the country was given the tournament, criteria for host countries changed.
“Since then, social considerations and human rights are taken into account,” he said.
