Iranian soccer chief Mehdi Taj said on Wednesday he will have a meeting with FIFA President Gianni Infantino in the next three or four days at which he would seek assurances that his country will be respected at the World Cup in the United States.
Canada, which is co-hosting the June 11 to July 19 World Cup with the US and Mexico, said it refused entry to Taj last week because of his links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Taj said on Tuesday that Iran would not take part in the tournament if FIFA could not guarantee respect for the country’s institutions in the US where the team will be based and play all three of their group matches.
“We will tell (FIFA) what our expectations are. If they can address them, we will definitely participate,” the FFIRI president told state broadcaster IRIB in Tehran on Wednesday.
“But if there is no guarantee that they will be addressed, then no one has the right to insult us or the pillars of our system.
“And if they continue on the path of disrespect, and even ask our players those kinds of questions, we may make a different decision.”
Both the US and Canada classify the IRGC as a “terrorist entity” and have made it clear they will not admit people with links to the elite military force.
Taj, who served as a high-ranking official with the IRGC before moving into soccer administration, received the backing of Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei for his stance on Wednesday.
“Look, our national football team is not ‘travelling’ to the United States, rather we are going there to take part in the FIFA World Cup,” Baghaei told reporters in Tehran.
“Therefore, it is FIFA’s responsibility to provide all the necessary facilities and conditions.
“Host governments also have a very clear obligation under FIFA regulations to provide the necessary arrangements and issue the required visas without taking political considerations or motives into account.
“We hope that FIFA, if only for the sake of preserving its own credibility, will certainly take the necessary measures.”
Iran’s participation in the World Cup has been in question since the US and Israel launched air strikes on the Islamic Republic in late February, triggering the war in the region.
Taj also said a wider 30-man squad for the tournament would be selected this week before being cut to the final 26 players after a training camp in Turkey.
Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei told state media that the squad planned to arrive in the US 14 days before the start of the tournament after the two-week camp.
Ghalenoei said he would like the squad to have two or three warm-up matches but attempts to set up friendly internationals had proved tricky with teams pulling out at the last minute.
The squad will therefore remain in Tehran for another week before heading to Turkey, where Iran played friendlies against Costa Rica and Nigeria in late March, on May 16.
Team Melli are scheduled to get their campaign underway against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15. The team’s US base will be at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Arizona.
