The Olympics the World Cup and Nations at War

I’m sorry, I inadvertently touched the little green flag next to the OP’s post, and I’m not sure why it turned gold instead of staying white. 

For some odd reason, Russia and Belarus were allowed to compete as nations in the Paralympics in Italy.  They walked as nations in the opening ceremony, causing some athletes and nations to boycott the ceremony.

Don't forget, Russia was also banned due their nationally-sponsored doping program.

Norman_Bates said:

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) barred Russia and Belarus from competing as national delegations in the recent Olympics in response to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and Belarus’s support of those attacks.

Similarly, Russia is officially banned from the 2026 World Cup due to its invasion of Ukraine. The Republic of the Congo and Pakistan were also banned but for different reasons and the ban against Pakistan has been revoked, I think.   Although there have been calls for Iran and other nations to be banned due to geopolitical conflicts, I do not believe FIFA has imposed one.

If being involved in a war or "conflict" - particularly "invading" another nation - are grounds for being barred from the World Cup and Olympics, should the US be treated the same?

the complication for the governing bodies is the U.S. is a host nation for both events

And in the NYT today, an interesting piece about the upcoming World Cup.  It was expected to bring millions of tourists to the US.  However:

1. The US has banned travellers from a few of the qualified countries.
2. The US has severely restricted travellers from other qualified countries (requiring a $15,000 bond for their visitors).
3. Many foreigners have posted comments critical of the US.  They are now concerned about being turned back by immigration upon arrival.
4. Not to mention the atrocious costs ($100 for a train ride from NY Penn to games at MetLife Stadium).

Thanks to the current administration, we will likely not see the crowds originally projected.  Of course, this might mean that there will be a few tickets available to us locals - even if we can't park at the stadium.

On the other hand, with premium tickets for the final going for $11,000+, FIFA might have miscalculated a bit.