United States denies visas to 12 Iranian officials for the World Cup
Among them are the team director and the press officer. The entire delegation is in Tijuana (Mexico) and from there they will reapply for the permits.
The United States has refused to grant visas to several officials from the Iranian Football Federation (FFIRI) who had planned to travel to the country for the 2026 World Cup, which will be jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, according to the Iranian news agency Tasnim.
The report states that visas were denied to the team director, representatives of the Foreign Ministry and the security department, as well as the team’s press officer.
In total, 12 visa applications were reportedly rejected, although the FFIRI has not officially confirmed the figure. Those affected are expected to travel with the national team to Tijuana, Mexico, on Saturday and reapply for U.S. visas from there.
The Iranian squad is scheduled to arrive in the border city over the course of Saturday. All members of the delegation have received visas to enter Mexico and are ready to travel to the tournament. The denials come amid the ongoing conflict involving Iran, the United States and Israel, which began in February.
Iran’s participation in matches on U.S. soil has been the subject of debate, prompting the FFIRI to announce in May that it would relocate the team’s training camp from Arizona to Tijuana, just south of San Diego.
During the tournament, Iran will face New Zealand in Los Angeles on 16 June and Belgium on 21 June. Their final group-stage match will take place on 27 June against Egypt in Seattle.
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