According to the national association, Iranian football fans will not receive the expected quota of tickets for their team’s World Cup games in the USA in the short term. The association is now making allegations against the host country and is hoping for mediation from FIFA. It expresses itself – but not very specifically.
Sales of tickets for the group games against New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt have become impossible for the Iranian association FFI, the organization announced on Thursday. The FFI accuses World Cup co-host USA of wanting to prevent the presence of Iranian fans in this way.
Actually Eight percent quota for every nation
Iran has been in a military conflict with the USA since the end of February. Therefore, according to observers in Tehran, Iranian fans would have had little chance of entering the World Cup anyway. Currently, US missions abroad do not issue visas for Iranian citizens. In addition, traveling to the USA is hardly affordable for most Iranian fans.
According to the FFI, many supporters had already planned their trip to the World Cup and now had to cancel it. The association is still hoping for mediation from FIFA in order to be able to access the ticket quota of eight percent of the spectator seats in the stadiums. This number of tickets is available to each World Cup participant for their fans per game.
FIFA speaks vaguely of “positive conversation”
The US organizers have not yet commented publicly on Iran’s allegations. FIFA’s message sent on Tuesday doesn’t sound very concrete: Secretary General Mattias Grafström recently said: “a positive conversation” with Mehdi Taj, President of the Iranian Football Association FFIRI. “The most important topics were coordination and planning with a view to ensuring IR Iran’s smooth participation in the tournament.”it continued.
Following the team’s arrival in Mexico, FIFA will continue dialogue and cooperation with the FFIRI, “to offer the team and the delegation a positive experience as well as all the necessary conditions for the sporting competition”.
Strict restrictions also for the Iranian team
The Iranian selection will face New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 16th (3 a.m.) and Belgium on June 21st (9 p.m.). The third preliminary round game will take place on June 27th (5 a.m.) in Seattle against Egypt.
The process is one of a number of bureaucratic disputes between the USA and Iran surrounding the World Cup in recent days and months. Due to entry restrictions, the Iranian association moved its team headquarters from the US state of Arizona to Tijuana in Mexico, south of San Diego. According to the Iranian ambassador to Mexico, the team is only allowed to enter the USA on match days for their World Cup games.