Sports
California lawmakers flag concerns about World Cup visas, ban threats and ticket prices
WASHINGTON — With the World Cup just six months away and the tournament draw unfolding Friday, members of California’s congressional delegation are expressing concern about preparations for what will be the largest and most complex single-sport competition in history.
The tournament, which will feature 48 teams playing 104 games across the U.S., Mexico and Canada, offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the 11 U.S. host cities to both showcase themselves to the world and grab a slice of what FIFA estimates will be a $30.5-billion economic impact. But to take full advantage of that opportunity, organizers need government assistance on issues ranging from visas to security while also dealing with ticket prices far beyond the means of the average fan.
The tournament draw will take place Friday morning at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., where the 42 countries that already qualified will be randomly assigned to one of 12 groups for the tournament’s opening round. That’s the last major hurdle for a World Cup that will open June 11 in Mexico City and end July 19 in East Rutherford, N.J.
After that comes the Herculean task of putting on the first World Cup in the U.S. in 32 years, one that will require bipartisan government cooperation on multiple levels. Get it right, and the upside is enormous. Get it wrong, and the damage to U.S. prestige will be significant.
The FIFA World Cup trophy is displayed during a panel discussion at The Kennedy Center on Wednesday in Washington.
(Dan Mullan / Getty Images)
And so far, the politicians say, the Trump administration has proven to be as combative as it has been cooperative.
“There’s so many layers to the economic engine that is the World Cup. It’s going to be successful. I’m highly confident of that,” Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said. “But to ensure its success — not just on an economic front, but on a logistical and security front — the best thing that we can all do is focus on the task at hand.
“Focus on federal government, state government and local government collaboration.”
Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Los Angeles) also is optimistic but guardedly so, given the work still to be done.
“You’re talking about visas, you’re talking about infrastructure, you’re talking about transportation, you’re talking about national security,” said Kamlager-Dove, whose district abuts Inglewood and SoFi Stadium, site of eight World Cup games. “You’re actually also talking about morale and a brand. People don’t want to buy a brand that sucks, or that’s losing or that isn’t inclusive.
“We can’t afford to have that happen for the World Cup.”
According to a November study by the consulting firm Tourism Economics, 1.24 million foreign visitors are expected to come to the U.S. for the World Cup, less than half what FIFA, the tournament organizer, projected. Still, that reverses a trend in which international tourism dropped more than 6% this year. Nearly 2 million World Cup tickets have been sold, with most going to people in the three host countries. More seats will go on sale next Thursday.
Fans in 209 other countries and territories also bought tickets, according to FIFA, and many of those fans will need visas to use them. Getting those documents has proven difficult.
Last spring Congress warned the State Department that its visa-processing system — which required applicants in some countries to wait more than a year simply for an appointment — needed to be streamlined. Three weeks ago the Trump administration rolled out the FIFA Prioritized Appointment Scheduling System, or PASS, which will allow applicants with World Cup tickets to apply for an expedited visa interview.
The administration doubled down on that Thursday, instructing embassies and consulates to prioritize visa applications for foreigners planning to attend the World Cup or the 2028 L.A. Olympics. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration added more than 400 consular officials around the globe to handle the demand.
“All attention should be on our outstanding athletes, not bureaucratic backlogs,” said Rep. Young Kim (R-Anaheim Hills), who partnered with Kamlager-Dove to urge the State Department to expedite visa processing. “The administration has made clear that these major sporting events are a top priority.”
Yet while players and coaches are clear to come, some World Cup fans are ineligible even for the expedited visa process. In June the Trump administration, citing safety concerns, blocked or restricted travel to the U.S. for citizens of 19 countries — including Iran and Haiti, whose countries qualified for the World Cup — and is considering expanding the ban to another dozen nations following the shooting of two National Guard troops in Washington last month.
Iran qualified for the 2026 World Cup but is among the countries whose fans face restricted access traveling to the United States for the tournament.
(Mohamed Farag / Getty Images)
That isn’t exactly in line with the philosophy behind the tournament, which FIFA says is to bridge cultural, political and social divides. The ban also clashes with what President Trump said during his first term in 2018, when he promised FIFA in writing that fans from all countries would be able to enter the U.S. without discrimination.
“When we made the bid to host, we were taking on the responsibility of making sure that every country that qualified would be able to travel and play,” said Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Livermore), who attended college on a soccer scholarship. “I don’t like what it says about us as a host country, if we’re just denying visas and excluding countries.
“We’ve dramatically increased the number of teams who qualify. And that model cannot work if you have a host country that is making political decisions that affect who is eligible and who’s not.”
Swalwell worries about the long-term effects of such bans if the U.S. effectively determines which qualified teams can compete in the tournament.
“We will never have the World Cup again,” he said. “We will be permanently banned, essentially, from hosting. We will so tarnish our reputation.”
The congressman isn’t naive to the potential dangers the Trump policies are supposed to address. He is a member of the Task Force on Enhancing Security for Special Events, which focuses on oversight of security preparations for the World Cup as well as the 2028 Olympics and other international sporting events.
“The response, to me, is not to deny teams from playing,” Swalwell said. “It’s to surge resources and have security conditions and requirements for countries that are riskier.”
“There has to be proper security, vetting for folks coming in from other countries,” Padilla agreed. “Los Angeles is no stranger to these large-scale events, from prior Olympics that we’ve hosted, Super Bowls that we’ve hosted. State and local officials in California know what we’re doing. We just need the federal government to do its part.”
Some help was included in the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” which passed Congress in July. It includes $625 million for a grant program to help U.S. host cities fund measures such as enhanced background checks and cybersecurity. The bill also sets aside an additional $500 million in grants to counter the threat of drone attacks, which have become a key worry for organizers of large events.
“We’ve had, obviously, Super Bowls. But the World Cup is going to be multiple Super Bowls happening at once,” said a legislative aide for Congressman Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the chairman of the security task force. “We’ve never had this number of people coming in for this many events over two months, essentially.”
In addition to the threats from outside, human rights groups and Congressional representatives also raised fears that dispatching National Guard troops and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, who have been sent to the streets of at least 17 major U.S. cities — including seven World Cup markets — will send the wrong message by militarizing the games.
“Scaring the bejesus out of people unnecessarily, who are scared that if they go to a game, somebody’s going to jump out of a dumpster and snatch them and put them in a U-Haul van and deport them to Liberia, that’s not how you boost ticket sales,” said Kamlager-Dove, whose concerns are shared by Padilla, Swalwell and others in the California congressional delegation.
SoFi Stadium in Inglewood will host eight matches during the 2026 World Cup.
(FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
Ticket distribution, which is managed by FIFA, also has become a concern amid brisk sales. For the first time, FIFA stepped into the lucrative secondary market for World Cup tickets, taking a 30% cut — in two separate 15% transactions — from every resale, a markup many scalpers would consider excessive. On a ticket resold for $1,000, for example, FIFA takes $150 from the seller (who receives $850) and charges the buyer an extra $150 (who pays $1,150 total), resulting in a $300 profit for FIFA.
In previous World Cups, resale prices were capped at face value and FIFA charged fees of 10% or less. Not so this year, with one seller reportedly asking $44,000 for a ticket to July’s final while FIFA’s lowest price for a private suite to that game is $199,000.
Yet there’s a waiting list to pay that.
By comparison, the most expensive ticket for the World Cup final in Qatar four years ago was $1,607, a 46% increase from 2018.
“They have to get a little more transparent about why they’re charging so much,” Kamlager-Dove said. “Why does it feel like price gouging?”
Finally, there’s the uncertainty that descends over World Cup cities every time Trump, who will attend Friday’s draw, muses about taking games out of places like Seattle, Boston and the San Francisco Bay Area, a warning he last made just three weeks ago. While FIFA officials dismissed the threats, they are difficult to ignore — especially for fans about to spend tens of thousands of dollars to travel to those cities.
The distractions, Swalwell said, are ones the World Cup doesn’t need less than 200 days from the opening game.
“It’s a real opportunity for America to shine. That’s appealing,” he said. “We have an opportunity to show that we’re open for business, we’re open for sport. I hope the president embraces that rather than sabotage the Americans who would suffer if he gets this wrong.”
Kim, like Padilla, is confident the tournament will be a historic success and says the president will deserve credit for that.
“This summer’s World Cup, along with the upcoming L.A. 2028 Olympics, is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Southern California to shine — bringing in billions in economic activity, millions of visitors, and showcasing the very best of our communities,” she said. “We can’t afford to take our eye off the ball. We must meet the moment and be prepared to welcome fans, athletes and media from around the globe.
“I have no doubt President Trump will continue driving this effort forward to make these games not just successful, but the greatest America has ever hosted.”
Sports
Cedric Alexander becomes new TNA X Division champion, crushing Leon Slater’s history-making attempt
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All eyes were on the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) X Division Championship on Thursday night as Leon Slater looked to retain the title over Cedric Alexander and solidify himself as the longest-reigning X Division champion in the company’s history.
Slater knew a legacy was on the line as he looked to break a record set by Austin Aries. But he needed to pin Alexander twice in one match to retain the title. It was a steep mountain to climb as Alexander had been just as dangerous since he entered the company.
The match started off hot with Slater and Alexander trading blows to begin the match. But a quick-thinking Slater rolled up Alexander quickly for the first fall.
Cedric Alexander in the ring during NXT at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla., on Sept. 23, 2025. (Bradlee Rutledge/WWE)
Alexander was able to go on offense from there. He hit a nasty German suplex on the outside of the ring. He continued to work on Slater’s tweaked neck. He later hit a Lumbar Check to tie the match at 1-1.
Slater went deep into his bag. He hit an avalanche Styles Clash, which could have kept anyone else down. However, Alexander kicked out. Alexander was able to counter Slater’s high-flying abilities just for a moment and knocked him back out of the ring.
Alexander sent Slater into the steel steps, leaving him busted open. Alexander declared that he would be the “greatest” X Division champion. One brainbuster later, Alexander tried to pin Slater, but couldn’t get him down.
Alexander hit a Lumbar Check again, but Slater kicked out. Slater mustered up the last ounce of energy. A tilt-a-whirl slam set Alexander up for a swanton 450. Slater missed and Alexander hit another Lumbar Check, and then again.
Leon Slater enters the arena during NXT at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla., on Jan. 6, 2026. (Craig Melvin/WWE)
Alexander pinned Slater for the win, completely shocking the fans in Sacramento, California. It will be the first reign for Alexander and his first title of any kind in TNA.
Alexander is a reminder, at least for TNA, that “The System always wins.”
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Fabian Aichner appears
Fabian Aichner, formerly known as Giovanni Vinci, makes his way to the ring during WWE SmackDown at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif., on Sept. 20, 2024. (WWE/Getty Images)
Moments before TNA went off the air, the lights went out in the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium. Emerging from the darkness was Fabian Aichner.
Aichner stared down Alexander and appeared to name himself the next challenger for the X Division Championship. Aichner, known as Giovanni Vinci for much of his run in WWE, hadn’t really been seen or heard from in months since his departure from WWE.
Aichner wrestled under his real name for a stint in WWE before he came back as Vinci in June 22. He was with WWE until 2025. He was a two-time NXT tag team champion and an Evolve champion before it became a WWE brand.
Eric Young earns future shot at TNA World Championship
Eric Young outlasted nine other men in an over-the-top battle royal and earned a shot at Mike Santana’s TNA World Championship to start the show.
The match came down to him and Elijah after the latter was able to toss members of The System out of the ring while also avoiding Frankie Kazarian trying to get back into the match following his own elimination.
Young and Elijah came to blows on the apron, knowing that as soon as their feet touch the ground, they would be eliminated. Young grabbed onto Elijah’s hair to try to hang onto the moment. Elijah broke away with Young’s back turned to him. Elijah, however, didn’t account for his wide stance.
The TNA original kicked Elijah in the groin and pushed him down to the ground. Young won the match and received a shot to win the TNA World Championship in the future.
He also made clear that Santana was next on his list of people to wipe out as he did to Joe Hendry, EC3 and Ricky Sosa in weeks past.
“Mike Santana, you’re gone next,” he declared.
Mike Santana learns his next opponent
Mike Santana stands in the ring during NXT at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla., on Sept. 30, 2025. (Kevin Sabitus/WWE)
Mike Santana came out to address the crowd and praised Young for his efforts to help build TNA from the ground up.
“You better be coming with something different because while you may be someone who helped build this place, when it comes to the new era of TNA on AMC, I’m the guy. I’m the man. I’m the one who holds down the fort week after week as your TNA world champion.”
While Young might have earned a title shot, Daria Rae came out and revealed to the crowd that Steve Maclin was cleared to return to action following an injury at the hands of Santana.
Maclin will get a shot at Santana’s TNA World Championship next week on “Impact.”
Santino Marella also came out during the segment after he was “suspended.” He revealed that Indi Harwell re-signed with TNA.
Lei Ying Lee, Xia Brookside rivalry heats up
Xia Brookside attends the “Freelance” screening at Regal Waterford Lakes in Orlando, Fla., on Oct. 24, 2023. (Jose Devillegas/Getty Images)
Lei Ying Lee brought the TNA Knockouts Championship back home last week with a win over Arianna Grace. She addressed the crowd before being interrupted by her former best friend, Xia Brookside.
In all black, Brookside claimed she was already in Lei’s head.
“You’re such a fraud. I’ve destroyed you mentally, I’ve destroyed you emotionally, I’ve destroyed you physically, and that title will be around my waist.”
Both competitors tossed expletives at each other before the segment was over. But Brookside made clear that she had her eyes on the title.
AJ Francis prevails over KC Navarro
A.J. Francis told Fox News Digital before the SacTown Street Fight on “Impact” that he was going to bring the pain to Navarro.
While wearing “Show Stealer” across his back, Francis did just that. Francis took some punishment from Navarro – a few shots from a baseball bat and a drop kick with a trash can.
Francis was able to turn the tide for a few moments, using the baseball bat to his advantage. But Navarro dug deep. He aligned six chairs in the ring, hoping to splash Francis through it. Instead, Francis countered and attempted an avalanche Down Payment. Somehow, Navarro countered with a cutter as both men crashed through the sea of chairs.
It looked like it could’ve been it. Navarro went for the pin, but only got a two count.
Francis turned on the heat from there. He got ahold of Navarro and hit a Down Payment through tables lined up on the outside of the ring.
He rolled Navarro back into the ring and picked up the pinfall victory.
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“Impact” match results
- Eric Young wins the 10-man battle royal to earn a shot at the TNA World Championship.
- A.J. Francis def. KC Navarro in a SacTown Street Fight.
- Rosemary and Allie def. Veronica Crawford and Mila Moore
- Cedric Alexander def. Leon Slater to win the X Division Championship.
The carriage has turned back into a pumpkin, the ballgown is once again just tattered clothing and all the horses have gone back to being mice.
The Ducks’ Cinderella run through the NHL playoffs came to an end Thursday in a 5-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6 of their second-round Stanley Cup playoff series. And the end came well before midnight, with goals by Mitch Marner and Brett Howden in the first 8½ minutes giving Vegas a commanding lead before many in the late-arriving weeknight crowd had made it to their seats at the Honda Center.
The Golden Knights will move on to the Western Conference finals with the Colorado Avalanche next week while the Ducks will move on to summer. But it’s the team’s latest start on the offseason since 2017, the last time the Ducks made it to the second round of the playoffs. So even if the glass slipper didn’t fit this time, the Ducks have reason to celebrate.
This team, after all, wasn’t supposed to be at the ball this long. Fourteen players on its roster had never been to the postseason before; most of them had never even played for a winning team in the NHL before. But the team’s youth and inexperience proved to be a strength, not a weakness.
Ducks center Leo Carlsson passes the puck as Vegas’ Shea Theodore defends during the second period.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
They didn’t know they weren’t supposed to win in the playoffs, so they did, dispatching the Edmonton Oilers — who made the last two Stanley Cup finals — in the first round and outplaying the veteran Golden Knights, a playoff team in eight of the franchise’s nine seasons, throughout much of the second round.
Rookie Beckett Sennecke, just 20, had four goals and an assist in the six games with Vegas. Winger Cutter Gauthier, just 22, led the team with 12 points in his first trip to the playoffs. Defenseman Olen Zellwenger, also 22, had a goal and assist in his first two playoff games and Olympic gold medalist Jackson LaCombe, 25, led the team in ice time — and was third in points with 10 — in his first postseason.
That’s the core of the team going forward and the playoff experience they got this spring will be invaluable. But the fairy godmother’s spell wore off early in Game 6, which was just 62 seconds old when Vegas went ahead to stay.
Marner opened the scoring with a spectacular breakaway goal, skating on to William Karlssson’s two-line pass as he entered the offensive zone and beating LaCombe up the center of the ice to the crease. When he got there, he pulled up, turned his back to goalie Lukas Dostal, then shoved the puck just inside the right post for his seventh goal of the playoffs.
Howden doubled the lead with a shorthanded goal 7½ minutes later, finding miles of space just to the right of the goal and banging in a pass from Marner that split LaCombe and Alex Killorn. The goal was Howden’s eighth of the playoffs, temporarily giving him the NHL postseason lead, while the assist gave Marner 18 postseason points, also best in the league.
When Shea Theodore scored off a faceoff seconds into a power play late in the period, it gave the Golden Knights a 3-0 lead at the intermission with the goals coming on a power play, the penalty kill and with the teams at even strength.
Ducks left wing Alex Killorn moves the puck ahead of Vegas right wing Keegan Kolesar in the first period.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
The Ducks led the NHL with 26 comeback wins during the regular season, but against the poised and patient Golden Knights the deficit was too big. The Ducks left the ice to a chorus of boos after the period, though they came back to dominate the second period, getting the only score at 12:46 when Mikael Granlund notched his fifth goal of the playoffs on a power play, lining a snap shot into the side netting from the middle the left circle.
But the Ducks would get no closer, with Vegas icing the game on two third-period goals from Pavel Dorofeyev, who had four goals in the final two games. The first came off a turnover from the Ducks’ John Carlson deep in his defensive end 2:52 into the final period and the second on a shot from a difficult angle to the right of the goal that ricocheted in off Dostal with 6:28 left in the Ducks’ season.
The two scores gave Dorofeyev nine for the playoffs, passing Howden for the league lead.
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Drake’s long-awaited album, “Iceman,” the ninth of his illustrious career, comes out Friday, but fans were given an apparent sneak peek late Wednesday night into Thursday morning.
Overnight, an apparent song from the album was leaked on social media, which is rumored to be titled “1AM in Albany,” a series of songs by Drake storytelling during specific hours of certain cities that began with “9AM in Dallas” in 2009.
The song features some thinly veiled hits at Kendrick Lamar following their feud from 2024 into last year, but fans were taken aback at some apparent shots at LeBron James.
Drake and LeBron James talk after the NBA game between the Toronto Raptors and the Los Angeles Lakers at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on March 18, 2022. (Cole Burston/Getty Images)
James and Drake were once very good friends, with James even taking the stage during one of Drake’s concerts years ago. However, James began to show some loyalty to Lamar during the famed rap beef that found its way to Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show performance.
“I shouldn’t even be shocked to see you in that arena, because you always made your career off of switching teams up,” Drake rapped. James went from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Miami Heat, back to the Cavs to the Los Angeles Lakers and is set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Singer Drake talks to LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers during an NBA game against the Toronto Raptors at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Nov. 25, 2015. (Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
CHARLES BARKLEY ADMONISHES SOCIETY FOR BEING HOMOPHOBIC IN VIRTUE-SIGNALING RANT ABOUT JASON COLLINS’ DEATH
In a double entendre, Drake also implored his fans to “please stop asking what’s going on with 23 and me. I’m a real n—-, and he’s not, it’s in my DNA,” a play on words from the website “23andMe.”
Drake and James have linked up numerous times, but if this song is legitimate, and the bars are aimed at James, those times may be long over.
LeBron James and Drake attend the Drake and LeBron James pool party in Toronto for Caribana on Aug. 5, 2017. (Johnny Nunez/Getty Images for Remy Martin)
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“Iceman” will be Drake’s first solo album since he released “For All The Dogs” in October 2023. His first album was “Thank Me Later” back in 2010, and he followed up with classics in “Take Care” in 2011 and “Nothing Was The Same” two years later.
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