Iran on Tuesday said FIFA must provide a guarantee that its military will not be “insulted” in the United States, where Iranian athletes will compete next month in the World Cup.
Iranian Football Federation president Mehdi Taj made the demand after he was denied entry to Canada for last week’s FIFA Congress. His visa was canceled due to his close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which both Ottawa and Washington have designated as a terrorist organization.
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Taj told the Iranian state broadcaster IRIB that such an incident must not occur again in the U.S., as the Iranian men’s soccer team prepares to play World Cup matches in Los Angeles and Seattle in June. FIFA President Gianni Infantino confirmed in late April that Iran will be allowed to participate in the high-profile sports event, even as the country remains in tense negotiations with President Donald Trump and has attracted global outrage over its closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
“We are going to the World Cup, for which we qualified, and our host is FIFA — not Mr. Trump or America,” Taj said this week. “If they accept hosting us, then they must also accept that they must not insult our military institutions in any way.”
“If they do, then naturally it could create the same kind of situation that happened in Canada, where there was a possibility we might have to return,” he continued. “So there must be this kind of guarantee so that we can go with peace of mind … We need a guarantee there, for our trip, that they have no right to insult the symbols of our system — especially the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump confirmed in April that Iranian athletes are welcome to the U.S. for the World Cup. But during a press conference alongside Trump on April 23, Rubio said those with ties to the Guard will not be allowed into the country.
“The problem with Iran would be not their athletes,” the secretary said. “It would be some of the other people they would want to bring with them, some of whom have ties to the IRGC. We may not be able to let them in, but not the athletes themselves.”
“They can’t bring a bunch of IRGC terrorists into our country and pretend that they are journalists and athletic trainers,” Rubio added.
Trump interjected, “We would not want to affect the athletes.”
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All three of Iran’s World Cup group stage matches are in the U.S. Iran is scheduled to play two games in Los Angeles, against New Zealand on June 15 and against Belgium on June 21. It is also scheduled to play against Egypt in Seattle on June 26.
Iran, which operates under a radical Islamic system, has provoked international outcry for years over its treatment of civilians critical of the government, including in the sports arena. Earlier this year, the regime executed an Iranian national wrestling team member for his involvement in anti-government protests in January. Among other charges, wrestling star Saleh Mohammadi was declared guilty of violating Iran’s Islamic penal code, violation of “waging war against God,” known as Moharebeh.
