FIFA concerned over Canada’s refusal to honor Afghan visa letters

Soccer’s international governing body FIFA criticized Canada’s decision not to recognize documents FIFA and a Canadian senator had given to female athletes and others who were scrambling to flee Afghanistan after the Taliban took over in 2021.

Canada refused to accept “visa facilitation letters” that FIFA and Canadian Senator Marilou McPhedran handed out based on a template provided by a CDND employee in attempts to evacuate 640 women athletes, coaches and others, according to court documents.

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Canada labeled those letters as ‘inauthentic’ and that it did not authorize anyone to issue them, asking the police to investigate their distribution.

“As FIFA, we are deeply concerned about the apparent change of mind of the Canadian authorities not to honor the visa facilitation letters,” reads a Sept. 21, 2021, email from FIFA Chief Social Responsibility and Education Officer Joyce Cook to an Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada staffer.