Watching Messi for $4 - this is not a fan benefit, but an embarrassing footnote to the Club World Cup box office.

When half of the seats in the 60,000-seat Hard Rock Stadium are empty, and when FIFA has to launch a desperate promotion of "buy one get four free" - this football event led by the "King of Football" Messi is facing an unprecedented cold reception.

And behind it is a microcosm of the sports spirit encountering a political cold wave, and it is also an international competition under the Trump administration - the future is bleak.

The Club World Cup, tickets can't be sold out.

According to the New York Times, as of a week before the start of the game, there were still tens of thousands of tickets unsold for Inter Miami's opening match against the Egyptian team Al-Ahl in the Club World Cup.

It is hard to imagine that for an international football event led by Messi, tickets are not only "slow to get", but even "buy one get four free".

Students at Miami Dade College recently received an internal email: "With the status of college students, you can buy a special ticket for the opening match of the Club World Cup for $20, and have the opportunity to receive up to 4 additional tickets for the opening match."

Although as the event approaches and the popularity picks up, under FIFA's "last-minute promotion", the price of the cheapest seat for the opening match has risen to around $70 three days before the start of the game, but it is not worth mentioning compared to the peak price of more than $300.

There are many reasons for the unsale of tickets, including but not limited to improper sales strategies, weak opponent appeal, overestimation of home appeal, etc.

But in any case, as the top international football event in the "small year of sports" in 2025, the box office performance is "abnormal".

Hard Rock Stadium

The venue for the opening match of the Club World Cup is not held at Inter Miami's regular home stadium, DRV PNK Stadium, but is placed at the Miami Hard Rock Stadium, which can accommodate up to 60,000 spectators. According to the expectations of the tournament, these seats could have been filled by international fans who came to visit.

But the reality is cruel. Behind every ticket for sale is the "hesitation to go to the United States" that is spreading around the world.

FIFA has always used "the most inclusive event in history" to promote the reformed Club World Cup, which brings together 32 clubs and players from more than 90 countries around the world.

Ironically, just two weeks before the game was about to kick off, the host country, US President Trump, announced a travel ban on 12 countries.

Although the ban states that "athletes or members of sports teams (coaches, support staff and immediate family members) traveling to participate in the World Cup, the Olympics or other major world events recognized by the Secretary of State may be granted an 'exception'." However, whether the new Club World Cup is considered a "major world event recognized by the Secretary of State" has not yet been determined.

This means that players from travel ban countries such as Iranian striker Taremi in Inter Milan may miss the Club World Cup.

Mehdi Taremi

On the surface, this travel ban seems to have no effect on the Club World Cup - all 32 participating clubs are from countries not subject to the ban. The consumption level of the 12 countries banned from entry is average, and the economic effect of the event is minimal. Without Taremi, Inter Milan is still a strong team that cannot be ignored.

However, the significance of holding large-scale sports events has never been limited to the athletes themselves, but also to the larger group of sports fans - a ban means that fans from the countries involved will not be able to enter the United States to watch the game.

For the Club World Cup, which has sold tickets to 130 countries, how to deal with the tickets of fans from the banned countries and how to appease the panic that fans from other countries may have will become a problem.

When introducing the US election last year, blogger "Xiao Lin said" described: "If Trump is re-elected as the US president, leaders, investors, and media people around the world will read the news, check emails, and even browse social platforms more frequently every day."

For travelers to the United States who really participate in the game, the level of concern will only "go to the next level."

Tourism Economics predicted at the end of last year that this year would be a "harvest year" for the US tourism industry, with international tourists increasing by 8.8% from the previous year, returning to pre-epidemic levels. But in May this year, after Trump announced policies related to tariffs and illegal immigration, Tourism Economics adjusted the data to "a 9.4% decline from last year."

"The Trump administration's attitude and policies on issues such as 'borders' and 'imposing tariffs on long-term trading partners' after taking office have caused 'reputational headwinds' among travelers who originally intended to travel to the United States," said Aran Ryan, director of industry research at Tourism Economics.

This travel ban is just one of Trump's many "dissuading" policies.

Under this strong reputational headwind, even with Messi's appeal, this year's Club World Cup will be like "rowing against the current" to win the favor of fans around the world.

Data released by the National Travel and Tourism Office in early April showed that a large number of tourists reduced their plans to travel to the United States due to concerns about policy risks.

In March this year, the number of tourists from Western Europe to the United States decreased by 17% compared with the same period last year; in addition, the Caribbean (down 26%), Central America (down 24%), South America (down 11%), Africa (down 10%), Oceania (down 8%) and Asia (down 1%) all experienced declines to varying degrees.

All of the above regions have at least one or more clubs competing in this year's Club World Cup. The stands of the Club World Cup are destined to lack some international faces.

Looking back at the past, when a country hosts a world sporting event, it often introduces convenient entry policies for foreign spectators:

The "Hayya Card" will be launched at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, and ticket holders can enjoy multiple entry visa-free treatment;

During the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, China will implement a 144-hour transit visa-free policy for passengers from participating countries;

Even though Russia was at a low point in relations with the West in 2018, it still provided ticket holders with visa-free entry services during the World Cup through the "FAN ID" policy.

In order to lower the threshold for international audiences to watch the games, various host countries have tried their best to do so.

This approach not only better promoted the tourism and economic development of the host countries and ensured the effectiveness of the events, but also demonstrated that "openness" is the mainstream attitude of the international community towards sports exchanges.

The Trump administration's practice of tightening the entry conditions for passengers during international competitions is quite "unreasonable".

In return, from May to July, when the Club World Cup and another international event "Concacaf Gold Cup" were held, global flight bookings to the United States fell by 11% year-on-year. It is hard to believe that this is a period of time when world events are held in succession during the summer vacation.

But under the Trump administration, what is impossible?

The five words "Trump administration" are giving the international events hosted by the United States during his term of office a negative impression of "joint responsibility".

As a prelude to hosting many international competitions during Trump's term, the Club World Cup not only accumulates experience in venue operation, crowd control, and security plans for the subsequent 2026 Mexico City World Cup and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, but is also the first shot for the United States to show the world its sincerity in hosting international events.

But it is obviously a bad shot:

Canadians are reminded by their own government to be prepared for delays, refusal of entry, and confiscation of equipment;

European countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, and France have warned that travelers to the United States are at risk of being detained by immigration officials;

Countries have unanimously warned their own citizens to "exercise caution" when visiting the United States.

"There is a widespread belief that more people are being detained, more equipment is being searched, and legitimate travelers are being deported, which has caused great fear," said Jeff Freeman, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association.

Imagine a country where even travelers with legitimate visas may face detention or deportation. Sports fans around the world will inevitably be discouraged.

U.S. Vice President Cyrus Vance even warned fans who want to go to the United States to watch the World Cup recently: "You must leave the country when your visa expires, otherwise Homeland Security Secretary Noem will "personally receive you." How can people believe that a host that openly "threatens" tourists can carry and practice the Olympic ideals?

Source: Cedric Ferris

More than 600 years ago, whenever ancient Greece held the Olympic Games, truce envoys from Olympia would go to all participating countries and city-states to call for the laying down of arms - this system was called the Olympic Truce (Ekecheiria).

In 1948, the first Olympic Games after World War II were held in London, England. At that time, Europe was devastated, without luxurious expenses, but it brought together athletes from 59 countries and regions around the world.

Outside the Olympics, at the 1995 South African Rugby World Cup, President Mandela, wearing the Springbok team jersey, was an indelible figure in the history of racial reconciliation in South Africa.

Whenever the world falls apart, sports can always break through geopolitical barriers and bring peace, unity and tolerance to the turbulent world.

The Trump administration has damaged the core of sports - "Even human groups with deep differences can establish a temporary model of peaceful coexistence under the framework of rules." This is the most regrettable.

Source: Associated Press

During the publication of the article, large-scale police-civilian conflicts caused by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)'s search for illegal immigrants were "staged" in Los Angeles, California - this city, which will host the Summer Olympics for the third time in three years, is currently under a partial curfew, and the air is filled with tear gas.

The riots in Los Angeles will most likely be quelled before 2028, and the Club World Cup will still be filled with fireworks and ribbons, but will the United States have enough time to repair its image in a limited time - to regain the trust of the people of the world?

At least in the United States today, those things we yearn for and that should have happened in the future - "the sports moment that makes everyone stop opposing each other and hold their breath together" - seem to be moving further and further away and becoming blurred.