The United States has pulled its team out of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Qatar, a week before the tournament starts. In a letter to players, US Soccer said it was cancelling the team's pre-tournament camp and its place at the finals "in light of current circumstances", Reuters reported. US Soccer Collective and The Athletic broke the news first, citing anonymous sources. They said players learned of the decision just over a week before kickoff.
US Soccer pointed to advice from the US State Department, Nile Post reported. Last month the department raised its advisory for Qatar to Level 3. It told Americans to reconsider travel because of the "risk of armed conflict". The advisory cited Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, including strikes on civilian airports and critical infrastructure. It warned that hostilities "have the potential to escalate rapidly beyond that immediate area".
"The well-being of our players and staff will always be our top priority," the federation said in the letter. According to Nile Post, US Soccer said it would inform the players' clubs. It also asked players not to comment publicly until FIFA had announced the withdrawal.
FIFA confirmed on Thursday that the tournament will go ahead. It said its security assessments "remain unchanged" and that nothing new had affected security around the event. FIFA said it understood that the US decision followed the existing Level 3 advisory. It added that "the applicable tournament regulations will be followed". FIFA also noted that Qatar had recently hosted several international events, including the FIP Padel World Cup, the Doha Diamond League and MotoGP.
The 48-team tournament runs from November 19 to December 13. The US was drawn in Group J. It was due to open against Montenegro on November 21 before playing Chile and Algeria. The Under-17 World Cup became an annual event last year, and Qatar is hosting it for five years in a row.
The conflict has hit other sport in the region too. The war in the Middle East began in February with joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran, Citizen Digital reported. The WTA Finals moved from Saudi Arabia to Indian Wells in the US. The Formula One race in Jeddah was cancelled, and the Bahrain Grand Prix was moved to Malaysia. Nile Post reported that the 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia has been postponed by almost a year.