It is unclear what impact President Donald Trump's ban on travelers and refugees from seven predominately Muslim countries will have on international sports later this year. What is clear is the ferocity with which people throughout sports have condemned his action.
"If we're trying to combat terrorism by banishing people from coming to this country, by really going against the principles of what our country is about and creating fear, it's the wrong way of going about it," said Steve Kerr, Golden State Warriors coach, whose father was killed in 1984 by Jihad terrorists in Beirut. "If anything, we could be breeding anger and terror. So I'm completely against what's happening. It's a horrible idea. I feel for all the people that are affected. Families are being torn apart, and I worry in the big picture what this means to the security of the world. You want to solve terror, you want to solve crime, this is not the way to do it."
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was critical more of how the ban was implemented than the ban itself.
"Obviously the rollout was Keystone Kops-like by any measure with objectivity," he told reporters last weekend. "Whether you want to say it's good or bad is irrelevant. But it was Keystone Kops, and that's scary."
U.S. men's soccer captain Michael Bradley attacked Trump and the travel ban on Instagram, writing, "When Trump was elected, I only hoped that President Trump would be different than the campaigner Trump. That the xenophobic, misogynistic, and narcissistic rhetoric would be replaced with a more humble and measured approach to leading our country. I was wrong. And the Muslim ban is just the latest example of someone who couldn't be more out of touch with our country and the right way to move forward."
Major League Soccer officials also responded.
"We are deeply concerned, both specifically for our players who may be impacted, and more broadly for all people who will suffer as a result of the travel ban implemented on Friday," the Major Soccer League Players Union wrote in a statement. "Details on the practical impact of the ban are still emerging, and we are still sorting through the potential impact on our players and their families. We are extremely disappointed by the ban and feel strongly that it runs counter to the values of inclusiveness that define us as a nation."
The NBA sought clarification from the State Department on the ban.
"We have reached out to the State Department and are in the process of gathering information to understand how this executive order would apply to players in our league who are from one of the impacted countries," NBA spokesman Mike Bass said. "The NBA is a global league and we are proud to attract the very best players from around the world."
The NBA's global initiatives include Basketball Without Borders, which recruits and develops several players from Sudan, one of the blackballed countries.
With the ban facing multiple court challenges and the possibility that Trump could try to expand or extend the ban past its current 90 days, sports officials were scrambling to determine how their events might be impacted. Iran indicated initially that it might have a reciprocal retaliatory ban, but then issued visas for American wrestlers to attend the freestyle wrestling World Cup to be held there this month. On the other hand, Iran denied visas for two American basketball players who were playing professionally in Iran, J.P. Prince and Joseph Jones, leaving them stranded in Dubai.
The global public relations fallout could also impact bids for the 2018 Gay Games, the 2024 Summer Olympics, and the 2026 soccer World Cup.
The Federation of Gay Games will narrow an American-heavy slate of bidders for Gay Games XI down to three contenders this month, and backlash to the ban could boost the chances of Hong Kong and Guadalajara to make the final three. Similarly, that backlash could hurt Los Angeles' chance of winning its bid for the Summer Olympics.
The site of the 2026 World Cup is scheduled to be selected in May 2020 – early in the next presidential campaign. It would appear the strongest contender for the cup, which will expand to 48 teams from the current 32, would be a combined bid by the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
Of course, Trump has always had a special place in his heart and checkbook for soccer. New York's Trump Tower used to house CONCACAF – the confederation of North and Central American and Caribbean soccer – as well as former senior American official Chuck Blazer, a cooperating witness in the federal case against FIFA. Currently living in Trump Tower under house arrest is Jose Maria Marin, who chaired the 2014 World Cup organizing committee in Brazil.