A diplomatic war of words has broken out over the US visa status for several members of Iran’s 2026 World Cup delegation with just days to go until the start of the tournament, and on the day the team itself departed to Mexico to open its camp ahead of the competition.
Iran have trained and played closed-door matches over the last three weeks in Antalya, Turkey, while diplomats have worked to secure visas for their entry to the United States, where the team will play all three of their group-stage games. Those visas were approved on 5 June for Iran’s players and some staff, but Iranian state media and diplomats reported that same day that several of the team’s support staff have been left out including the Iranian football federation chief Mehdi Taj.
A US state department official issued the same comment Saturday to multiple media outlets, claiming that “the visas necessary for Iran to compete in the World Cup, including for athletes and necessary support staff, have been issued.”
The official added: “We will not allow the Iranian team to abuse this system to sneak terrorists into the United States under false pretenses.”
Earlier Saturday, the Iranian embassy in Turkey responded forcefully to a tweet from US ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, celebrating his staff’s work in issuing the visas and claiming that “sport transcends borders”.
The Iranian embassy claimed in its statement, issued via quote tweet, 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”.
“You have now escalated the deliberate and discriminatory treatment against Iran’s national football team to its highest level,” the embassy’s statement continued. “The US government in practice is depriving Iran’s national team of its right to play in the World Cup under normal conditions and without undue pressure and stress.”
Iran’s semi-official news agency Tasnim reported that those who had not received visas included three Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) officials: executive director Mehdi Kharati, secretary general Hedayat Mombini and media director Mohsen Motamedkia.
Staff members without visas would travel to Mexico with the team while efforts to obtain visas continue, the agency said.
The FFIRI said the behavior of co-hosts the US “contradicts international sports laws” and it would take up the matter with soccer’s world governing body Fifa.
“The US government, continuing its hostile actions against the national team … made a non-sporting and completely political decision to refuse visas for key managerial and administrative members of the Iranian national football team,” it said in a statement reported by Iran’s state media.
“This issue will definitely be pursued by the Football Federation through Fifa.
“As the responsible body, [Fifa] has the duty to follow up and finalise the visas for the managerial, executive, technical, and support staff of the Iranian national team who are currently in camp and whom the national team urgently needs.”
There is still significant uncertainty concerning how the Iranian national team will logistically be able to move through the tournament. Iran had originally planned to set up its base camp in Tucson, Arizona, but made a switch in May to instead train in Tijuana, Mexico, owing to the uncertainty of their immigration status.
Iran are scheduled to play all of their matches in the United States, with group-stage games in Los Angeles against New Zealand on 15 June and against Belgium on 21 June, and in Seattle against Egypt on 26 June.
Iran’s ambassador to Mexico said Saturday the squad had been notified that under the conditions of their visas, 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.
That went against what the team’s spokesman Amir Mahdi Alavi told state TV earlier.
“The visas issued for the national team are multiple-entry visas, and the national team will arrive at the match venue one day before the first game and, for the following games, two days prior to each match,” Alavi said.
Fifa rules for World Cups stipulate that a team’s coach must give a press conference on the eve of the match at the venue where the game will be played.
Fifa has been approached for comment by the Guardian.
.png?w=600)
