Iran will boycott the US but not the World Cup, country’s football head says | Iran
Iran will “boycott the United States” but “not the World Cup,” declared the president of the Iranian football federation, Mehdi Taj, in a video broadcast by the Iranian Fars news agency.
Iran is expected to play its group matches in the United States at this summer’s tournament. “We will prepare for the World Cup,” Taj said. “We will boycott the United States but not the World Cup.”
The Iranian soccer federation announced this week that it had begun discussions with FIFA about the possibility of relocating the United States team’s matches to Mexico, although the world governing body maintained that the tournament schedule remained unchanged.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Tuesday that her country was ready to host Iran’s first-round matches if necessary, due to the conflict in the Middle East.
Iran’s participation in the finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico has been in doubt since the United States and Israel launched airstrikes on the country last month, with Donald Trump warning that the safety of Iranian players would be at risk if they traveled to the tournament.
Sheinbaum, asked if Mexico was willing to host the matches, replied: “Yes.” She added: “Mexico has diplomatic relations with every country in the world, so we will wait and see what Fifa decides. »
Iran is scheduled to face New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles, followed by Egypt in Seattle. Iran is set to meet the United States in the round of 16 in Dallas if they finish second in their respective groups.
A source told the Guardian this week that the United States and Iran appeared engaged in a game of brinkmanship, with each trying to create the conditions to force a withdrawal that it could blame on its adversaries, with Fifa caught in the middle.
