GENEVA: US President Donald Trump often says the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Los Angeles Olympics are among the events he is most excited about in his second term.

Yet there is significant uncertainty regarding visa policies for foreign visitors planning trips to the US for the two biggest events in sports.

Trump’s latest travel ban on citizens from 12 countries added new questions about the impact on the World Cup and the Summer Olympics, which depend on hosts opening their doors to the world.

Here’s a look at the potential effects of the travel ban on those events.

What is the travel ban policy?
When Sunday ticks over to Monday, citizens of 12 countries should be banned from entering the US

They are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

Tighter restrictions will apply to visitors from seven more: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

Trump said some countries had “deficient” screening and vetting processes or have historically refused to take back their own citizens.

How does it affect the World Cup and Olympics?
Iran, a soccer power in Asia, is the only targeted country to qualify so far for the World Cup being co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico in one year’s time.

Cuba, Haiti and Sudan are in contention. Sierra Leone might stay involved through multiple playoff games. Burundi, Equatorial Guinea and Libya have very outside shots.

But all should be able to send teams to the World Cup if they qualify because the new policy makes exceptions for “any athlete or member of an athletic team, including coaches, persons performing a necessary support role, and immediate relatives, traveling for the World Cup, Olympics, or other major sporting event as determined by the secretary of state.”

About 200 countries could send athletes to the Summer Games, including those targeted by the latest travel restrictions. The exceptions should apply to them as well if the ban is still in place in its current form.

What about fans?
The travel ban doesn’t mention any exceptions for fans from the targeted countries wishing to travel to the US for the World Cup or Olympics.

Even before the travel ban, fans of the Iran soccer team living in that country already had issues about getting a visa for a World Cup visit.

Still, national team supporters often profile differently to fans of club teams who go abroad for games in international competitions like the UEFA Champions League.

For many countries, fans traveling to the World Cup — an expensive travel plan with hiked flight and hotel prices — are often from the diaspora, wealthier, and could have different passport options.

A World Cup visitor is broadly higher-spending and lower-risk for host nation security planning.

Visitors to an Olympics are often even higher-end clients, though tourism for a Summer Games is significantly less than at a World Cup, with fewer still from most of the 19 countries now targeted.

How is the US working with FIFA, Olympic officials?
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has publicly built close ties since 2018 to Trump — too close according to some. He has cited the need to ensure FIFA’s smooth operations at a tournament that will earn a big majority of the soccer body’s expected $13 billion revenue from 2023-26.

Infantino sat next to Trump at the White House task force meeting on May 6 which prominently included Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. FIFA’s top delegate on the task force is Infantino ally Carlos Cordeiro, a former Goldman Sachs partner whose two-year run as US Soccer Federation president ended in controversy in 2020.

Any visa and security issues FIFA faces — including at the 32-team Club World Cup that kicks off next week in Miami — can help LA Olympics organizers finesse their plans.

“It was very clear in the directive that the Olympics require special consideration and I actually want to thank the federal government for recognizing that,” LA28 chairman and president Casey Wasserman said Thursday in Los Angeles.

“It’s very clear that the federal government understands that that’s an environment that they will be accommodating and provide for,” he said. “We have great confidence that that will only continue. It has been the case to date and it will certainly be the case going forward through the games.”

In March, at an IOC meeting in Greece, Wasserman said he had two discreet meetings with Trump and noted the State Department has a “fully staffed desk” to help prepare for short-notice visa processing in the summer of 2028 — albeit with a focus on teams rather than fans.

IOC member Nicole Hoevertsz, who is chair of the Coordination Commission for LA28, expressed “every confidence” that the US government will cooperate, as it did in hosting previous Olympics.

“That is something that we will be definitely looking at and making sure that it is guaranteed as well,” she said. “We are very confident that this is going to be accomplished. I’m sure this is going to be executed well.”

FIFA didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the new Trump travel ban.

What have other host nations done?
The 2018 World Cup host Russia let fans enter the country with a game ticket doubling as their visa. So did Qatar four years later.

Both governments, however, also performed background checks on all visitors coming to the month-long soccer tournaments.

Governments have refused entry to unwelcome visitors. For the 2012 London Olympics, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko — who is still its authoritarian leader today — was denied a visa despite also leading its national Olympic body. The IOC also suspended him from the Tokyo Olympics held in 2021.

JEDDAH: Cross-country skier Rakan Alireza has made history as the first Saudi athlete to compete in cross-country skiing at the 2026 Winter Olympics. He is now focused on leaving an even bigger mark on the sport.

Known for his unique dual-sport talent in skiing and rowing, Alireza last year won a rowing gold medal at the Saudi Games, the Kingdom’s premier national sporting event held annually.

Having steadily progressed on the international ski circuit, he has recently competed in several global events, including the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships. Above all, Alireza has successfully qualified for the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and is already focused on preparing for the prestigious event.

“I’ve been working toward this goal for years,” Alireza told the media recently. “It’s a dream that’s coming closer, but there’s still a lot of work to do.”

Despite tough competition and limited snow exposure at home, his international experience and discipline keep him in the running.

Alireza’s journey has already inspired many in the Kingdom. He trains year-round, alternating between alpine slopes and watersport arenas.

His ambition extends beyond personal milestones. “If I can qualify, it opens the door for others. It shows that Saudis belong in winter sports too,” he told Arab News.

With growing institutional backing and increasing public interest, Alireza represents a shifting athletic landscape in Saudi Arabia, one where snow is no longer off-limits.

For most athletes, preparing for the Winter Olympics involves snow, mountains, and early mornings in alpine silence. For Rakan Alireza, it begins in the desert heat of Jeddah.

Now 29, the Saudi athlete will represent the Kingdom in cross-country skiing at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina. Reflecting on the moment he learned he had qualified, Alireza called it “bittersweet.

“Because when you work for a goal for such a long time, and once you reach it, it feels like the end,” he said.

He remembers standing among the crowd at the Milan-Cortina slopes years ago — not as an athlete, but as a spectator — quietly dreaming of carrying his nation’s flag across that snow.

“I saw different flags. I remember clearly. I felt like I can’t wait to raise the Saudi flag there. That’s the only thing I remember.”

Skiing is now the sport driving his every move. His routine is a cycle of relentless fitness training.

“Wake up early. Two to three hours of steady-state cardio. Go to work. Do it again in the afternoon. Ninety percent of my training is just cardio,” he says, laughing. But the weight of Olympic qualification is never far from his mind. “(In) 2026, I’m going to Milan. In like eight months; it’s really close.”

Cross-country skiing and rowing may seem worlds apart, but Alireza sees them as complementary.

“They’re both the most aerobic sports in the world. Being in the rowing team helps because I’m surrounded by competitors that make me work hard.

“If you go see the cross-country skiing field, I stick out like a sore thumb. I’m too big for the sport,” Alireza added. “I drop from 91 kg to 85 during the season. Here in Jeddah, I just can’t. It’s a struggle.”

His choice to pursue both sports was not always welcomed. “They wanted me to focus strictly on one. But I didn’t believe that was my way. I’d rather fail my way than succeed someone else’s way.”

His commitment to sporting excellence is deeply personal. “It’s a privilege to do what I do. I don’t want to waste it. I don’t regret anything. Even the race I didn’t win, I’d do it again.”

Alireza believes that mental strength can be forged through a dedication to motion.

“Anyone who tells me he has problems, I tell him: Go run. Do something boring for a while. You’ll be in your head a lot. You need to push past that.”

A key figure in his journey is his coach, Christer Skog, a seasoned Swedish trainer who has led national teams in Sweden, the Czech Republic, the UK, and Australia.

“Now he has me. We fight. We eat cake. We move forward,” Alireza laughs. Skog’s unconventional methods resonate with him. “He once told me to go pick mushrooms for dinner instead of training. I ended up hiking for three hours. He just knows how to get my head back into it.”

Despite the rigorous training, Alireza remains grounded in humor and family.

“My dad still thinks I should work, but he supports me. My mom is my biggest cheerleader.”

Apart from his skiing and rowing adventures, Alireza is also a sports entrepreneur and is currently working with Kona Jeddah Marine Sports Club, Saudi Arabia’s first wakeboarding facility.

“I started three years ago. It was a coincidence,” he said. “I had just returned from a winter trip. I had no job. I was supposed to attend a wedding, but I stayed at the training center instead. That’s when my boss saw me and said, ‘You’re Rakan Alireza? Stay.’ Two weeks later, I was hired.”

Kona Jeddah is more than a sports club. It’s a grassroots incubator offering wakeboarding, stand-up paddleboarding, kayaking, and electric surfboards.

“We introduced wakeboarding in Saudi. We have the first cable system here. The IWWF (International Waterski and Wakeboard Federation) certified us. Now they want to host international competitions. It’s something I can contribute to.”

Alireza hopes Kona will one day produce Olympic-level athletes.

“We already have MoUs with federations,” he said. “Rowing, swimming, kayaking. I want someone to go to the Olympics from a sport we built here.”

Alireza sees such targets as part of his contribution to the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

“When people say I’m ambitious, I say I’m just following the lead. Our leadership, King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, are ambitious. The country is ambitious. It’s a duty for us to contribute.”

The 2026 Winter Olympics will run from Feb. 6-22 next year, and as the countdown to the action in Milan continues, Alireza’s focus is sharpening.

“I called the CEO of the rowing federation. He said, ‘We’d love to have you back, but you should focus on skiing now. You have eight months. Give it your best.’

“Everything runs its course,” Alireza said. “I haven’t reached the point where I hate it. I’ll always be in something.

“Maybe retirement from sport? Golf,” he grins. “But not yet. Not now.”