CNN sports correspondent Don Riddell may have been reporting from snow-covered D.C. on Friday’s The Situation Room, but his hot take about the upcoming World Cup could have thawed the wintry weather. According to Riddell, Trump’s America—specifically, ICE operations—is comparable to human rights abuses in the two previous World Cup hosts of Russia and Qatar.
Co-host Pamela Brown set Riddell up by giving credence to the idea that “immigration advocates” who allege similar sentiments should be taken seriously, “I want to bring you back in, Don, because there have been these allegations, as we know, of human rights abuses that have plagued World Cup hosts in the past. But now some immigrant advocates say that they're worried about detentions and deportations during the tournament in the U.S. You've covered so many of these World Cups before. What more do you know about that?”
Riddell wasted no time getting to his dumb analogy, “You know, it's fascinating. I've been at CNN 23 years, so I've been a part of all the World Cups that have happened in that time. And a lot of the build up to the FIFA World Cup in Russia in 2018 and then again in Qatar in 2022 four years later, was about the human rights abuses, and it would have been hard to imagine back then that we would be talking about similar things about a World Cup hosted by the United States, but that is where we are now, and a lot of people have a lot of concerns.”
After a brief digression into ticket prices, Riddle continued, “There are fans who are perhaps on principle, thinking of boycotting the tournament. I know people who refused to even watch the last one on television because of the allegations that were made against the Qatari government, and so you have very, very similar situation playing out now, and then you may well have fans who are just afraid to come and visit this tournament because of what we are seeing, and human rights advocates are now pointing that out, and that's assuming they could even get here if they wanted to.”
Riddell also lamented, “Two of the teams who have qualified, Haiti and Iran, are currently on the travel ban. That is a list of 19 countries, which may well be expanded to 30 or 32. We don't know if that will scoop up even more of the teams who have qualified for this tournament. For some of the countries who aren't on the travel ban, it is very, very difficult just accessing a visa to travel to the United States. So, that has been complicated. The U.S. government recently has said that they're going to fast-track fans who have bought tickets so that they can get a visa to come here. We'll see how that plays out.”
Finally, Riddell returned to his Russia-Qatar comparison, “I referenced Qatar and Russia previously. They really tried to downplay their human rights situations once the World Cup came around. I feel like it's kind of the opposite here. Like we see the footage of people being chased down the street and detained by ICE agents. The American government isn't hiding that anymore. I guess it was never really hiding it. They're quite proud of it, but it may well make some people think twice about attending this tournament next year.”
Russia poisons dissidents, including in foreign countries. There is a trend of regime critics falling out of windows, and even in 2018, Vladimir Putin had already committed several war crimes by dismembering multiple neighbors by force in unprovoked wars of aggression. In Qatar, stadiums were built using what could be described as slave labor. According to CNN, those things are equivalent to enforcing immigration law.
Here is a transcript for the December 5 show:
CNN The Situation Room
12/5/2025
11:08 AM ET
PAMELA BROWN: I want to bring you back in, Don, because there have been these allegations, as we know, of human rights abuses that have plagued World Cup hosts in the past. But now some immigrant advocates say that they're worried about detentions and deportations during the tournament in the U.S. You've covered so many of these World Cups before. What more do you know about that?
DON RIDDELL: You know, it's fascinating. I've been at CNN 23 years, so I've been a part of all the World Cups that have happened in that time. And a lot of the build up to the FIFA World Cup in Russia in 2018 and then again in Qatar in 2022 four years later, was about the human rights abuses, and it would have been hard to imagine back then that we would be talking about similar things about a World Cup hosted by the United States, but that is where we are now, and a lot of people have a lot of concerns.
There are already fans who are wondering whether they're going to come to the United States because of the price of the tickets. The prices that we've seen are already two, if not three times more expensive than they were at the last tournament.
There are fans who are perhaps on principle, thinking of boycotting the tournament. I know people who refused to even watch the last one on television because of the allegations that were made against the Qatari government, and so you have very, very similar situation playing out now, and then you may well have fans who are just afraid to come and visit this tournament because of what we are seeing, and human rights advocates are now pointing that out, and that's assuming they could even get here if they wanted to. It has been difficult to access tickets for some of the fans who've been trying to purchase them in the first two rounds of purchases, and then there are the travel restrictions.
Two of the teams who have qualified, Haiti and Iran, are currently on the travel ban. That is a list of 19 countries, which may well be expanded to 30 or 32. We don't know if that will scoop up even more of the teams who have qualified for this tournament. For some of the countries who aren't on the travel ban, it is very, very difficult just accessing a visa to travel to the United States.
So, that has been complicated. The U.S. government recently has said that they're going to fast-track fans who have bought tickets so that they can get a visa to come here. We'll see how that plays out.
And this all might explain one of the reasons why Gianni Infantino and U.S. President Donald Trump have become so close.
We've discussed earlier in this segment why it benefits Donald Trump. He particularly likes shiny, golden things. He's been around the World Cup trophy itself quite often recently. One wonders if one of the reasons Infantino has become so close to Trump is to try and whisper in his ear, to try and make it easier for fans and people to come and access this World Cup.
I referenced Qatar and Russia previously. They really tried to downplay their human rights situations once the World Cup came around. I feel like it's kind of the opposite here. Like we see the footage of people being chased down the street and detained by ICE agents. The American government isn't hiding that anymore. I guess it was never really hiding it. They're quite proud of it, but it may well make some people think twice about attending this tournament next year.
