German soccer team cancels Minnesota visit due to ICE crackdown
https://www.startribune.com/german-soccer-team-cancels-minnesota-visit-due-to-ice-crackdown/601586530?utm_source=gift
Posted by rezwenn
German soccer team cancels Minnesota visit due to ICE crackdown
https://www.startribune.com/german-soccer-team-cancels-minnesota-visit-due-to-ice-crackdown/601586530?utm_source=gift
Posted by rezwenn
22 Comments
Werder Bremen for anyone that doesn’t click
FIFA should seriously consider pulling the World Cup away from the US. If the board won’t, the members should force the issue.
Pretty much what anyone should do this summer.
Anyone who goes is supporting this. FIFA will never pull-out if people are still willing to go.
ICE is looking anyone that will help them hit their quotas and earn a bonus. DO NOT COME TO THE US!
Based Germans. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the fact is that we currently have an authoritarian regime of an orange dictator in the US
It sucks for the city, which is not at fault for what’s happening there — but considering the circumstances, this is unfortunately a smart move.
Football*
Proud of you, werder!
Now can other european clubs & national teams please follow?
Trump said it himself, the US are “the hottest place”, and by that I mean a burning hellhole. It’s not a safe place for anyone.
What is “soccer”?
Football*
**Bundesliga side Werder Bremen were planning to visit in May, though no matches were scheduled.**
The Minnesota Star Tribune
February 22, 2026 at 3:18AM
Pro German soccer team Werder Bremen have canceled a planned spring tour to Minnesota and Detroit, citing the controversial immigration crackdown in Minnesota.
In early January, the Bundesliga club had been coordinating the Midwest trip to play two friendly matches in May. But the club’s managing director, Klaus Filbry, recently told the German publication [DeichStube they had canceled the tour](https://www.deichstube.de/news/werder-bremen-politische-gruende-warum-usa-reise-abgesagt-bundesliga-minnesota-ice-donald-trump-zr-94167461.html) due in part to federal authorities fatally shooting two people in Minneapolis.
“Playing in a city currently experiencing unrest and where people are being shot doesn’t align with our club’s values,” he said.
Filbry also said he was concerned that the Werder Bremen players might have difficulty traveling after U.S. Customs and Border Protection started screening social media profiles for security risks.
“It’s no longer clear which players will be allowed to enter the USA due to the stricter entry requirements,” Filbry told DeichStube.
The team’s spokesperson told Reuters there were “sporting, economic and political reasons” for the cancellation. The team is in danger of being relegated from Germany’s top league after winning just four of its 22 matches so far this season.
Werder Bremen’s Jovan Miosevic controls the ball during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Werder Bremen and Eintracht Frankfurt in Bremen, Germany, on Jan. 16. (The Associated Press)
Werder Bremen has a reputation for being one of Germany’s most left-wing clubs, with its leadership pledging its support for diversity and inclusiveness, and a fan base known for proclaiming progressive beliefs on its gameday banners.
Though Minnesota United were not specifically mentioned as opponents, the Loons have played host to several German clubs for friendly matches in recent years. The Loons kicked off their Major League Soccer season in Austin, Texas, on Saturday night.
Werder Bremen’s cancellation only adds to the economic toll that Operation Metro Surge has had on the state; Minneapolis city leaders recently estimated that the community had already experienced a [$200 million loss](https://www.startribune.com/economic-impact-ice-immigration-surge-minneapolis/601581894).
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Trump is installing an autocracy in the US. People like Hannah Arendt and Umberto Eco, and more recently Anne Applebaum, wrote about it, extensively, but no one reads anymore. They laid it all out for us to prevent it from happening again.
We always ask ourselves what we should have done in 30s Germany. Would we be the ones to stop fascism of happening? Or would we just stand idly by?
I guess we now know the answer to that question.
I can’t imagine anyone wanting to travel to the U.S. right now
Shall we not call it soccer then? It is European. It is played with feet. It’s football.
very smart
Leave it to Trump.
I’m sure he’s got a couple of Russian clubs in mind that would be happy to play in MAGA land -whether it’s football, basketball, or chess.
They won’t care.
Football.
Smart of them. The US administration is not to be trusted under *any* circumstance.
Smart.
If fifa won’t cancel the world Cup in America. Then all the world Cup players should boycott America. as it is much too dangerous and violent country to take a chance to play let alone visit. As trump has got his ultra violent agents. even American citizens and any foreign visitors happening ever day day in trumps administration orders nobody is safe in a America anymore.