Questions have been raised about the criminal searches of various teams, including some star players, in the US during the FIFA World Cup 2026.
Several videos of various US airports went viral, in which the Senegal, Uzbekistan and German teams were seen undergoing rigorous searches.
In addition, the Iraqi and Iranian teams also faced immigration problems at the airport, some players had to undergo hours of questioning, while several members of the support staff were also deported.
First, a video of the Senegalese team went viral, in which Senegalese players can be seen standing near their luggage on the airport runway in team jerseys, where security personnel are seen checking them.
According to reports, this action was taken before the players entered the terminal.
Similarly, the Uzbekistan team was searched using sniffer dogs and modern security equipment upon arrival for a friendly match against the Netherlands. The team from the most powerful European country, Germany, also could not escape the strict security check of the US immigration authorities.
The German team had to go through strict security procedures while leaving for Toronto before the important match against Ivory Coast. Now superstar Lionel Messi’s champion team Argentina also faced similar conditions as the German team when they were searched rigorously before boarding the plane.
Lionel Messi was initially surprised by this situation, but then he started laughing in the face of the same surprise. Social media users also expressed their surprise that a player like Messi had to go through such a strict search process.