NFL commissioner Roger Goodell makes stunning claim over who’s to blame for ICE and Bad Bunny fury ahead of the Super Bowl

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell tried to play down the furor surrounding Bad Bunny and ICE at this year’s Super Bowl, insisting Tuesday that only the media is stoking controversy ahead of the end-of-season showpiece.

The Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots face off at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday, with Bad Bunny handed the chance to perform the halftime show.

The decision sparked outrage from Donald Trump and a number of his allies, with the president branding it ‘crazy’ and ‘absolutely ridiculous’ to choose the Puerto Rican artist.

Bad Bunny previously cited ICE as a reason he did not include any mainland US dates for his tour and the singer took aim at federal agents during a speech at the Grammys on Sunday night.

But with just days to go until the Seahawks and Patriots face off, Goodell suggested the storm is not overshadowing Super Bowl LX.

When asked by the Daily Mail if he was frustrated that ICE and Bad Bunny are dominating the build-up to Sunday’s game, he said: ‘I don’t think that’s true… I think the media is [talking about it]. I don’t think anyone else is.’

The Puerto Rican artist – whose real name is Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio – reignited his feud with ICE at the Grammys.

‘Before I say thanks to god, I’m going to say, ICE Out,’ said Bad Bunny, who won three awards on Sunday night, including the prestigious Album of the Year.

‘We are not savage. We are not animals. We are not aliens. We are humans, and we are Americans. The hate gets more powerful with more hate. The only thing that is more powerful than hate is love. 

‘So, please, we need to be different. If we fight, we have to do it with love. We don’t hate them, we love our people, we love our family, and that’s the way to do it, with love.’ 

Federal agents were expected to be in the Bay Area this week, with Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem previously vowing: ‘We’ll be all over that place.’ 

Goodell addressed the halftime show at his annual press conference on Monday, describing Bad Bunny as ‘one of the greatest artists in the world’, before adding: ‘He understood the platform he was on. 

‘This platform is used to unite people and to be able to bring people together with their creativity, with their talent, and to be able to use this moment to do that. I think artists in the past have done that. I think Bad Bunny understands that and I think he’ll have a great performance.’

The NFL commissioner reiterated that message on Tuesday night, telling the Daily Mail: ‘He’s going to be great!’ 

The Super Bowl is taking place amid heightened tensions across America following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, which came two weeks after 37-year-old Renee Good was fatally shot in her car by an ICE officer.

Their deaths sparked widespread protests and prompted fears of more unrest at the Super Bowl.  

Last year Trump ally Corey Lewandowski warned: ‘There is nowhere that you can provide safe haven to people who are in this country illegally, not the Super Bowl, and nowhere else… we will find you, we will apprehend you, we will put you in a detention facility and we will deport you.’ 

Noem even urged people to avoid the Super Bowl ‘unless they are law-abiding Americans who love this country,’ adding: ‘We’ll be all over that place… we’re gonna enforce the law.’ 

But on Tuesday, the NFL’s chief security officer Cathy Lanier said ICE officers will play no role at this weekend’s Super Bowl. ‘There are no planned ICE enforcement activities. We are confident of that,’ Lanier said.

According to the Associated Press, Department of Homeland Security official Jeff Brannigan has held a series of private calls with local officials and the NFL. Brannigan reportedly suggested that ICE has no plans to conduct law enforcement operations during the week of the Super Bowl or at Levi’s Stadium.