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Iran World Cup team heads to Mexico amid U.S. visa row
🇸🇬 Singapore /Sports

Iran World Cup team heads to Mexico amid U.S. visa row

From CNA · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Iran's World Cup squad departed for Mexico, but a diplomatic dispute over U.S. visas for some support staff cast a shadow over their participation.
  • Iran's embassy accused the U.S. of discriminatory treatment and called on FIFA to hold Washington accountable, while the U.S. stated that necessary visas for the team to compete have been issued.
  • The dispute highlights ongoing tensions between the U.S. and Iran, potentially impacting the team's ability to compete in the upcoming World Cup.

Iran's World Cup squad has departed for Mexico, but their participation is under a cloud due to a diplomatic row over U.S. visas for some support staff. The team left Turkey for Tijuana on Saturday, June 6, after a training camp, with the tournament set to begin on June 11.

You have now escalated the deliberate and discriminatory treatment against Iran's national football team to its highest level. FIFA must hold the US accountable for violations of its rules and for the discriminatory treatment of Iran's national football team.

— Iran's embassy to TurkeyThe embassy wrote on X on Saturday, reacting to the U.S. refusal to issue visas for some of the team's support staff.

While the players and technical staff received their U.S. visas, Iran's embassy in Turkey stated that a "large" number of managerial and executive staff were denied entry. The embassy condemned this as "discriminatory treatment" and urged FIFA to hold the U.S. accountable for violating its rules.

The Iranian Football Federation echoed these sentiments, calling the decision "political interference in sport in its worst form." They argued that the U.S. government's actions deprived the national team of a fair opportunity to compete and vowed to pursue the matter with FIFA.

By extending its hostile behaviour towards the Iranian nation into the field of sport, the... US government has deprived Iran's national team of... the opportunity to compete without discrimination.

— Iran's Football FederationThe federation criticized the U.S. decision, calling it political interference and a violation of fair competition.

A U.S. administration official confirmed that the necessary visas for Iran to compete, including athletes and support staff, had been issued. However, without directly addressing the specific cases of those denied, the official stated that the U.S. would not "abuse this system." The situation remains tense as the World Cup approaches.

We will not a

— US administration officialThe official confirmed that necessary visas had been issued but added this statement without directly addressing the visa denials for support staff.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by CNA in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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