Fifa flies Portugal’s World Cup team on plane used for ICE deportations

Cristiano Ronaldo and Bernardo Silva during the Portugal-Spain match in Dallas on 6 July. Photograph: Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Cristiano Ronaldo and Bernardo Silva during the Portugal-Spain match in Dallas on 6 July. Photograph: Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images Fifa flies Portugal’s World Cup team on plane used for ICE deportations Aircraft that transported team to match is same one used to deport dozens of Venezuelans to Cecot mega-prison ew en route to semifinal match is also one of ICE’s most used deportation planes A plane used by the Portugal men’s soccer team to fly to a World Cup match is the same one used daily for the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign, and brought dozens of Venezuelans to a Salvadoran mega-prison last year against a judge’s orders. Video shows Portugal flying on a Global Crossing Airlines (GlobalX) aircraft en route to Dallas on 4 July ahead of their match against Spain, with the plane’s tail number, N837VA, clearly visible. A review of flight records for that Airbus shows it flew removal-related flights both the day before and after flying the Portuguese athletes. That plane was also one of the aircraft at the heart of the US government’s March 2025 deportation of more than 200 Venezuelans to the notorious mega-prison Cecot. Because the deportations were done without due process , a judge ordered the planes to turn around, but the flights departed and landed in El Salvador regardless. In a video posted by El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, the same plane and its tail number are visible. In an email, Ricardo Quaresma of the Portuguese football federation said Fifa organized the 4 July GlobalX flight. The team has flown with various other airlines throughout the tournament, including American Airlines and TAP Air Portugal . Fifa has not responded to multiple requests for comment. Trump’s deportation hub: inside the ‘black hole’ where immigrants disappear Read more The Guardian has closely followed the Trump administration’s deportation program, reviewing months of leaked GlobalX data in a 2025 investigation that showed the company has moved thousands of detainees around and out of the US under a contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Detainees were often transported without notice to their families or legal counsel and have described being shackled at their hands and feet and not being told where their plane was headed. GlobalX has not responded to requests for comment. The aircraft that flew football legend Cristiano Ronaldo and his Portugal team has also carried more people for deportation than most other planes under ICE’s contract. It has conducted more than 1,580 removal-related flights since May 2023, making it one of the most commonly used aircraft in the Trump administration’s mass deportation operation, according to data provided to the Guardian by ICE Flight Monitor . The group, housed at Human Rights First, tracks ICE flights using publicly avail