The treatment reserved for Iran by the US authorities will remain as “a stain” in the history of the World Cupthe general secretary of the Iranian football federation insisted on Friday, Hedayat Mombeyni.
The person responsible attended the press in Tijuana, Mexicowhere Team Melli has its base camp, a few hours after filing an appeal with the FIFA to protest against the “restrictions” imposed by the United States to travel or remain in its territory.
The Iranian delegation did not obtain US visas for a dozen members of its coaching staff and considers itself mistreated.
On Thursday he announced he was filing an appeal to protest that he is only allowed to arrive in the United States on the eve of his three group stage matches, instead of two days before each.
An obstacle that, according to Iranian officials, prevents players and coaches from preparing calmly for their next match against Belgium, on Sunday in Los Angeles.
“It really is a lack of fair play and does not respect the rules and regulations of FIFA,” said Mombeyni on the sidelines of the Iranian team’s training this Friday in Tijuana.
“Those who are not capable of applying FIFA rules should not host tournaments, and FIFA should not select them as hosts,” denounced the official, who described the treatment received by his team as “a stain on the recent history of the World Cup.”
The 2026 World Cup, organized jointly by Canada, Mexico and the United States, is the first in soccer history in which a host country is at war against one of the participating nations.
However, Washington, which has just signed a first agreement with Tehran to end the war in the Middle East, assures that it was always planned that Iran would only enter the United States on the eve of its matches.
“This was agreed upon with the Iranian team and with FIFA weeks ago, and has been discussed for months,” Andrew Giuliani, director of the White House working group for organizing the World Cup, said at a press conference in Seattle on Friday.
Giuliano, however, did not rule out an easing of restrictions ahead of the third match, scheduled in Seattle on June 26 against Egypt.
“Everything is constantly evolving, you can talk about it and, of course, we want to guarantee fair play on the field,” he declared, quoted by the Daily Telegraph, adding that the president of the United States, Donald Trump, “wants to make sure that this tournament respects competitive balance.”
For the Iran-Belgium match on Sunday, the European team landed in Los Angeles on Friday, while the Iranians will only be able to arrive in the city of stars on Saturday.
Despite Iranian complaints, the World Cup regulations published by FIFA in May stipulate that “each team will travel from its base camp to the match stadium on the eve of the match day (MD-1) and, in exceptional cases, in MD-2, and will return to its base camp after the match (on the same day of the match or in MD+1).”
