Head of Palestinian soccer says he wasn't granted US visa to attend World Cup

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — The head of the Palestinian Football Association is waiting in Mexico City for permission to enter the United States with other federation heads attending the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Jibril Rajoub went to the opening match between Mexico and South Africa on Thursday. But he is among several people accredited to attend the World Cup who have been denied visas or have yet to receive them from the United States.

“I don’t believe that it’s fair to use or to abuse and deny the right of all footballers all over the world to attend,” the veteran Palestinian political figure said in an interview with The Associated Press.

The Palestinian team did not qualify for the World Cup, but FIFA typically invites the heads of football associations from around the world to the event every four years, which it frames as a celebration of global unity.

“Everyone will be welcome in Canada, Mexico and the United States for the FIFA World Cup next year. We are working exactly for that,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said last year.

The United States, however, has refused entry to delegates from a raft of countries, including a referee from Somalia and a photographer traveling with Iraq’s team.

Infantino said this week that FIFA had been trying to resolve visa issues but could not overrule the U.S. government.

“We need to respect that we are not the kings of the world who can rule over governments and police forces,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

The U.S. State Department had no immediate comment on Rajoub’s visa, but last year implemented new restrictions on Palestinian passport holders, including on anyone who had been employed by the Palestinian Authority.

It revoked a visa to allow Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to travel to the United Nations General Assembly last September.

Rajoub and other Palestinian soccer officials have long argued that Israel violates statutes by allowing teams from settlements in the occupied West Bank play in Israel’s national league. They have pushed FIFA to sanction Israel, also decrying restrictions on the movement of Palestinian players and how war in the Gaza Strip has damaged or destroyed 80% of sports facilities and killed at least 565 players there, according to the association.

Last month, Rajoub refused to shake hands with the head of Israel’s football federation at Infantino’s behest because he said the gesture would not heal wounds but instead whitewash Israel’s actions.

Rajoub pointed out that when Russia hosted the 2018 World Cup, it did not implement comparable visa restrictions for people who were invited to the tournament.

__ Matthew Lee contributed reporting from Washington

FILE - Jibril Rajoub, president of the Palestinian Football Association speaks during the 65th FIFA Congress held at the Hallenstadion in Zurich, Switzerland, Friday, May 29, 2015. (Patrick B. Kraemer/Keystone via AP, File)

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Police in Ohio have arrested a suspect in a shooting that wounded 12 people at a crowded neighborhood street festival last weekend.

Eljay Crisp-Carr, 20, was taken into custody Thursday and charged with 11 counts of felonious assault. Court documents do not list an attorney for him and no one answered a call to a phone number associated with him Friday morning.

The gunfire broke out Saturday during the Old West End Festival in Toledo at a park filled with tents, music and food trucks in a neighborhood dotted with Victorian homes. Police said a fight between rival groups apparently escalated into two people shooting at each other, although they were not among the wounded.

In a criminal complaint filed in Toledo Municipal Court, a detective described video showing Crisp-Carr participating in the fight. After another man started shooting, Crisp-Carr moved away from the group but then turned and opened fire, the detective wrote. He was seen firing indiscriminately into the crowd, the detective wrote.

The detective said she used witness statements, social media and law enforcement photos to identify Crisp-Carr. Authorities have issued an arrest warrant for the other suspect, Ka Nye Taylor, but he hasn't been caught.

Hundreds of people were attending the annual festival in a historic district of Toledo, a city on the western edge of Lake Erie about 55 miles (90 kilometers) southwest of Detroit. Organizers canceled the event’s second day because of the shooting.

The violence sent terrified bystanders fleeing while others rushed to help the injured alongside medics and police. The victims ranged from teenagers to one person in their 60s.

At a news conference Tuesday, the police chief and other city officials praised officers and good Samaritans who quickly offered help to the victims.

“We saw strangers who were shocked and frightened by the violence they just saw, they jumped into action,” said Chief of Fire and Rescue Allison Armstrong. “They helped others by placing tourniquets, dressing wounds, applying pressure and comforting those victims until additional help could arrive.”

Ramer reported from Concord, New Hampshire.

Paramedics treat a person after multiple people were shot at a community festival Saturday, June 6, 2026, in Toledo, Ohio. (Rich Berry via AP)