(AFP) – Iran’s World Cup squad landed in Mexico on Sunday under the shadow of a bitter diplomatic row. The dispute follows the United States’ refusal to issue visas for some team support staff, amidst ongoing military conflict between the two nations. This situation escalated just days before Thursday’s kickoff of the 2026 World Cup, which is being jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
After departing from their training camp in Turkey a day earlier, the Iran team landed early Sunday in the Mexican border city of Tijuana, as witnessed by AFP. The team will be based in Tijuana throughout the tournament, despite playing their entire group stage in the United States. Notably, when they do play in the US, it will mark the first World Cup in which a host nation receives a team from a country it is at war with.
Iran’s team had spent nearly three weeks at a training camp in Antalya, using the time to apply for visas to travel to Mexico, Canada, and the United States. On the eve of their departure for Mexico, the players received their US visas, as noted by Washington’s envoy to Turkey, Tom Barrack, on X late Friday. However, Iran’s embassy to Turkey reported that support staff had been denied visas; concerns arise for 15 administrative and management staff, according to an Iranian diplomat and state TV.
“You have now escalated the deliberate and discriminatory treatment against Iran’s national football team to its highest level,” the embassy wrote Saturday on X, calling for world football’s governing body FIFA “to hold the US accountable for violations of its rules.”
Adding to the tensions, Iran’s ambassador to Mexico stated Saturday that the squad had been informed that, under their visa conditions, the team must enter and leave US soil on the same day as their matches. “We can enter in the morning and we must leave the same day,” Iran’s envoy Abolfazl Pasandideh told reporters. This seemed to contradict the earlier statement made by the team’s spokesman, Amir Mahdi Alavi, who mentioned that the visas issued for the national team were multiple-entry and allowed the team to arrive at the match venue a day before their first game, and two days prior for subsequent matches.
FIFA’s rules for World Cups stipulate that a team’s coach must give a news conference on the eve of the match at the venue where the game will be played.
Iran’s Football Federation, whose chief Mehdi Taj was reportedly among those denied a visa, has condemned the decision as “political interference in sport in its worst form.” In response, a US administration official confirmed that “the visas necessary for Iran to compete in the World Cup, including for athletes and necessary support staff, have been issued.” However, without directly addressing the matter of those whose visas were refused, the official added: “We will not allow the Iranian team to abuse this system to sneak terrorists into the United States under false pretenses.”
In April, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated that any issues would not be with the Iranian players but rather “some of the other people (they) would want to bring with them,” implying that some individuals might have ties to the Revolutionary Guards, a group on the US terror blacklist. Notably, Taj himself is reportedly a former Guards member, as reported by Iranian media in the diaspora.
The visa row has also impacted the Iraqi team. The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency stated Saturday that Iraq’s national team had landed in Chicago on Friday, with two members subjected to additional screening. “Following inspection, one traveler was admitted to the United States. The second traveler, a photographer and NOT a player on the team, was determined to be inadmissible and was denied entry,” CBP said in a statement.
The Middle East war escalated when the United States and Israel initiated bombings against Iran on February 28. An April 8 ceasefire, which largely halted the fighting, has since come under strain from recent exchanges of fire. Iran is in Group G and will play New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles on June 15 and 21, followed by a game against Egypt in Seattle on June 26.
– Eduardo Jaramillo
© 2024 AFP
