The International Association of Sports Journalists (AIPS) has expressed, with five days left before the start of the Worldhis concern about the “unfair” visa restrictions that the United States has imposed on some colleagues, who are “denied” entry to the country.
The president of the AIPS, the Italian Gianni Merlo, on behalf of the Executive Committee, sent a letter to Bryan Swanson, Director of Media Relations at FIFA, and Jochen Steinhoff, Head of Operations and Media Services at FIFA, to explain the concern on this issue.
“We are faced with an old and unacceptable problem for journalists, such as the denial of entry visas to duly accredited colleagues. There are many cases of Iranian and African colleagues who cannot enter the United States. The cases are innumerable and, I repeat, unacceptable. Politicians always say that sport unites and builds bridges between young people from countries in conflict, but in this case, we are going in the opposite direction,” says Merlo.
“We believe it is important to allow colleagues to attend the event and work because their presence will be crucial for the image of the sport and what it represents, especially in a country like the United States, where freedom of the press is essential,” he says.
Finally, Merlo is hopeful that FIFA “will do everything possible to obtain visas.”
“We are already considerably delayed, and many colleagues have already lost the opportunity to use the plane tickets they had booked in advance, in addition to having to face significant additional expenses,” he concludes.
