FIFA President Gianni Infantino has reaffirmed that Iran “will be at the World Cup” and will play their group matches in the United States as planned despite the Middle East conflict.
Infantino Insists Iran Will Participate In The World Cup
“Iran will be at the World Cup,” Infantino said at half-time as Iran beat Costa Rica 5-0 in a friendly in southern Turkey as reported by the Daily Mail.
“That’s why we’re here. We’re delighted because they’re a very, very strong team, I’m very happy.”
“I’ve seen the team, I’ve spoken to the players and the coach, so everything is fine,” added Infantino, whose attendance at Tuesday’s game was unannounced.
Infantino went on to stress that Iran’s ‘matches will be played where they are supposed to be, according to the draw.’
The United States, Mexico, and Canada will host the World Cup on June 11.
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On June 15, Iran will play their first Group G match against New Zealand in Los Angeles. After that, they will play Egypt in Seattle on June 26 and Belgium in Los Angeles on June 21.
The war with the United States and Israel that started on February 28 had cast doubt on Iran’s involvement.
“For us, what matters most are FIFA’s rules and regulations. We will comply with whatever FIFA decides. Every host country has made commitments to FIFA and must honour them,” Mehdi Mohammad Nabi, the vice president of the Iranian Football Federation (FFIRI), told AFP at the match.
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