Pally Soccer Chief/Terrorist Supporter denied Visa to enter USA

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/428645

Pally soccer chief denied US visa to attend FIFA World Cup

The head of the PA soccer association, Jibril Rajoub, is denied a US visa for the 2026 World Cup. Rajoub is known for his anti-Israel comments and incitements.

Jibril Rajoub, the prominent Fatah official who leads the Palestinian Authority’s soccer association, revealed that his request for a United States visa had not been approved, blocking him from traveling to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, JNS reported.

The development follows several instances where the Trump administration barred specific tournament delegates from entering the country, with recent restrictions impacting an Iraqi team photographer and a Somali referee.

Rajoub, who served a prison sentence in Israel for security-related offenses, regularly incites against Israel, and has in the past said that Jews deserved the genocide inflicted on them by the Nazis.

In October 2011, he delivered a speech at a ceremony honoring the terrorists released by Israel in the Shalit deal, in which he praised Hamas for abducting the soldier and hailed the released prisoners as heroes.

In another incident, he declared that if the PA had a nuclear bomb, it would use it against Israel.

In 2018, Rajoub was suspended for a year from FIFA for inciting hatred and violence, after he called on soccer fans to target the Argentinian Soccer Association and burn jerseys and pictures of Messi when he was scheduled to play a friendly game in Israel.

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/428645

Palestinian soccer chief says US, Canada haven’t granted him visa to attend World Cup

Jibril Rajoub went to the opening match between Mexico and South Africa on Thursday in Mexico City. But he is among several people accredited to attend the soccer World Cup who have been denied visas or have yet to receive them from the United States.

Rajoub told AFP that he had also failed to obtain a visa for Canada, which is co-hosting the World Cup.

The United States has refused entry to delegates from a raft of countries, including a referee from Somalia and a photographer traveling with Iraq’s team.

The US State Department last year implemented new restrictions on Palestinian passport holders, including on anyone who has been employed by the Palestinian Authority.

It revoked a visa to allow Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to travel to the United Nations General Assembly last September.

Last month, Rajoub refused to shake hands with the head of Israel’s soccer federation.

Palestinian soccer chief Jibril Rajoub ‘denied US visa for 2026 World Cup’

In 2024, then Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz threatened to ban Rajoub from traveling abroad, accusing him of using sports to promote terrorism and violence.

“Jibril Rajoub, a terrorist in a suit who openly supported Hamas’s crimes, is working around the clock to get Israel removed from the international soccer association,” Katz tweeted, tagging FIFA on the post.

“We will work to thwart his plans, and if he doesn’t stop—we will imprison him in the Muqata’a [P.A. presidential compound in Ramallah], where he will be left to play Stanga by himself between the walls,” added Katz, referring to a soccer-like game popular with Israeli children.

On April 30, Rajoub refused to stand alongside Israel Football Association Vice President Basim Sheikh Suliman during a tense moment at the FIFA Congress in Vancouver.

Both officials were invited to the stage by Infantino, who attempted to bring them together. Rajoub declined to move closer to Suliman despite Infantino placing a hand on his arm and gesturing for him to do so.

https://www.jns.org/news/u-s-news/palestinian-soccer-chief-jibril-rajoub-denied-us-visa-for-2026-world-cup