Iran squad cleared for US entry; staff denied visas for World Cup
All players in the Iranian national team squad have been granted entry visas by the United States for the upcoming FIFA World Cup – co-hosted by the U.S., Mexico, and Canada from June 11.
US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack confirmed the visa approvals in a message on X on Friday, just 10 days before Team Melli’s opening match in Group G against New Zealand at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California.
It will be the first iteration of the competition to see a host nation receive the team of a country it is at war with.
The news ended Iran head coach Amir Qalenoei’s concerns over the availability of players who have completed their military service with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday there was “no problem” with the Iran squad entering the country, but Washington would not allow technical and administrative staff with ties to the IRGC to accompany them.
Iranian Fars News Agency, citing The New York Times, reported on Saturday that visas for several members of the Iranian delegation – including Mahdi Taj, chairman of the Iranian Football Federation (FFIRI) and a former IRGC member – have not yet been issued.
The FFIRI confirmed the report later on Saturday, describing the visa denial as “a non-sporting and entirely political decision” and vowing to pursue the matter through FIFA.
“World football’s governing body, as the responsible authority, is tasked with following up on and securing visas for the Iranian national team’s managerial, administrative and technical staff.
“The host nation, through its discriminatory and targeted treatment of Iran’s national football team, has created a biased and unequal environment, representing one of the clearest examples of political interference in sport,” the statement added.
US ‘discriminatory treatment’
Iran on Saturday slammed World Cup host the United States over “discriminatory treatment” in not granting visas for some members of the Iranian delegation to the tournament.
“Why do you not say that visas were denied to a large portion of the managerial and executive staff, technical advisers, and others who are an integral part of any national football team?” the Iranian Embassy in Turkey said in a post on X, referring to an earlier announcement by US envoy Tom Barrack that visas had been granted to players.
“You have now escalated the deliberate and discriminatory treatment against Iran’s national football team to its highest level,” the embassy added.
Taj and two of his colleagues abandoned their onward trip to Vancouver for the 76th FIFA Congress in May, following a clash with Canadian border officials in Toronto. While media reports suggested that immigration authorities denied the delegation entry into Canada, Taj insisted it was their own decision to leave the North American country after exhaustive questioning about his ties to the IRGC – which is listed by Canada and the United States as a “terrorist group” – and “offensive insults directed at the country’s proud armed forces.”
In late May, Iran moved its training base to Tijuana, Mexico, from Tucson, Arizona, which Taj said was due to visa problems. The Iranian squad left Antalya for Tijuana on Saturday, after two warm-up friendlies in the Turkish resort city.
Qalenoei’s men came from behind to beat The Gambia 3-1 last week, before defeating Mali 2-0 courtesy of goals from Saeid Ezzatollahi and Ramin Rezaeian on either side of halftime on Thursday.
The lack of competitive action for the home-based players in the squad has been a major issue for Qalenoei to deal with, after the Iranian top-flight was called off following U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran in February.
Team Melli will return to SoFi Stadium to take on European heavyweight Belgium on June 21, before traveling to Seattle, Washington, to face Egypt in their final group game at Lumen Field five days later.
With eight of the third-placed teams across the 12 groups advancing to the round of 32, Iran will fancy its chances of securing a first-ever knockout-stage berth at the seventh attempt.