Damn. Just. Wow. How come his visa requests were denied?
"Super Smash Bros. Melee isn't seen as a sport" was stated by Leffen in the visa contract reading in the video (it's easy to miss since Leffen reads about 4 lines at once thanks to the video editing).
Note that League of Legends, DOTA 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, StarCraft II, and many other video games are seen as equivalents of sports in the eyes of customs, as are many trades, some of which aren't even actually sports or truly sports-related.
Seeing as how Leffen is sponsored by Team Solo Mid (one of the largest esports competitive organizations in the world) and Red Bull (one of the biggest brands to ever come from Australia), Leffen obviously had good legal representation.
The problem is... getting work visas for video games right now is a case-by-case, video game-by-video game basis.
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This also has been an issue in some traditional contact sports. MMA, the oldest sport in existence (well by extension, since it's fighting, and nothing is older than fighting in human history but sex, birth and death), has seen this issue arise numerous times.
One of the 5 best 205 pound MMA fighters in the world, Glover Teixeira, couldn't get into America for over a 4 years because of visa issues. Glover had fought in America for 5 1/2 years on 0 occasions, and like Leffen, randomly had his work visa revoked.
This visa issue prevented Glover from signing with the UFC (the biggest organization in the sport with the highest pay) for years, and when he did finally get the work visa to go to America he got signed by the UFC.
Glover lost out on hundreds of thousands of dollars at least in potential income, which probably lost the states he would have fought in even more money than that (sports, like esports, are based on performers who draw in interest and thus money, and Glover became one instantly).
While Super Smash Bros. Melee doesn't draw the audiences or money of MMA, and Leffen doesn't draw the viewers or money of Glover Teixeira or the UFC, Leffen does indeed equal a draw, which leads to an increase in stream viewers, tournament entrants, and tournament interest, all of which give streamers, event organizers, and event hosts increased income (of which states can tax from).
Thus, not having Leffen around is having a negative impact on the American economy, even if Leffen is taking his tournament income and spending it mostly in Sweden (because he inevitably brings about business in America that is greater than his tournament winnings, especially when you factor in his domestic travel and housing expenses).
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So, in the long run, denying performers/athletes is a bad thing for nations to do, which is why countries usually don't make a habit of it.
Alas, the post-9/11 mindset of "foreign = bad" as well as the general Baby Boomer (aka "waste all the resources and money in the world) mindset of "video games = not a sport and not a real competition" are hurting American income due to short-sighted "get off my lawn" mentality.
For whatever reason, these people at the American customs offices think Leffen is lying, don't realize the impact or size of Red Bull and TSM are (to have their employee able to travel to events), and honestly don't really care about anything but themselves.
I'm not expert on the specific details of work visas and athlete visas, but the job is almost definitely easier denying such claims rather than accepting them thanks to how anti-immigration American laws in general are (which is hilarious since less than 10% of Americans have ancestry that is predominately from indigenous groups).
Ignoring the personal stuff at him.
Is this why he was denied?
No, sports earning taxes aren't federal but state taxes based on the state they are won. The taxation of sports earnings is very straight-forward. It is so straight-forward it is on a "per-basis" system.
Take for example, the NFL. The NFL has 16 games a year in the regular season. You earnings for your yearly salary is dived into 1/16th's, and each 1/16th is taxed by the state each of those games is played in (note this doesn't apply to signing bonus, in which case it would apply to the state the team plays in).
Each game is taxed based upon state income tax rates. Obviously it is higher in states such as California and New York compared to states such as Idaho or North Carolina.
There are also 7 states without income taxes at all, so the income earned in these states would be immune from any state taxation. These states are Washington, Nevada, Wyoming, South Dakota, Texas, Florida, and Alaska (note: many major fighting game events take place in these states, notably Dreamhack Austin, CEO, and EVO).
In the case of Smash, usually state governments see the money as too minuscule to enforce the tax for taxation, or in the case of large events such as a LCS Final, The DOTA Summit, Dreamhack, or ESL, it is often taxed automatically so the person or persons receiving the income earnings from the tournament doesn't have to do additional work (like the NFL example earlier).
There can be a few caveats here and there, but the globalization of travel, trade and income has made the income, accounting, and taxation system of America pretty straight-forward in this regard to avoid controversy. It was made specifically very simple for this reason as well.
If this was an issue, America wouldn't attract international sports stars to play on American teams such as retired MLS superstar David Beckham, the NBA's Paul Gasol, or the MLB's David Ortiz, as well as hundreds of other professional and amateur athletes who aren't American citizens.
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In the case of sponsorship taxes, that is done federally based on country of origin, in which case Leffen's earnings from TSM, Red Bull, and any other sponsors he had would not be something US tax officials have any legal claim over. Leffen's taxation in regards to sponsorship income would thus be exclusive to his home nation of Sweden.
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As for said person's claims from the post you are quoting, the person you are quoting is a Leffen hater, who, unlike yours truly, doesn't have any credits, certificates and degrees in taxation accounting and business at the collegiate (and probably even the high school) level. They are merely trying to garner up more hate on Leffen.
Said person did just quote this post above yours...
Guy seems like an ***, what goes around comes around.
These two posters are just posting out of feelings of inferiority rather than taxation insight.
I hope they realize they are strong enough to get over that all on their own and choose to value themselves better and get a more positive outlook so they can contribute to making themselves and the world better, all of which can lead to a chain of new and exciting opportunities for them that otherwise they won't have.
