Petition signed by 2,300 scholars from 80 countries urges ‘World Cup’ to be moved due to American policies towards foreign academics
3-MIN READ3-MIN ListenLing Xinin OhioPublished: 7:30pm, 1 May 2026A Chinese boycott of the “World Cup of mathematics” this year could be decisive, according to a co-organiser of a petition calling for the event to be moved out of the United States this year.
Varma is one of more than 2,300 mathematicians from nearly 80 countries who have signed a petition to move the 2026 International Congress of Mathematicians in Philadelphia out of the United States, citing visa barriers, safety concerns and US policies they say undermine the inclusiveness of global science.
The total number of petitioners already exceeds the official number of registered participants registered for the event.
Any Chinese mathematician “who understands the value of a genuinely global mathematics community” should support the boycott and convince their mathematical societies to do the same, Varma added.
