The Iranian Football Association will file a complaint with FIFA following the travel restrictions imposed by the host country USA. This was said by the spokesperson of the Iranian association yesterday, according to international news agencies. According to the association, the team cannot prepare properly for its matches this World Cup.
Just like in Iran’s first match of this World Cup against New Zealand, the team will not be allowed to be in the US until 24 hours before the second group match. On Sunday, the Iranians will play against Belgium at 9 p.m. Dutch time (12 p.m. local time), again in Los Angeles.
This 24-hour rule also applied to the match against New Zealand. Moreover, after the match, the Iranians had to fly back to Tijuana, the Mexican city on the border with the US where Iran is forced to stay for this tournament. Due to the diplomatic tensions between the two countries, the team cannot reside permanently in the US.
“The Football Association of Iran believes that such restrictions are inconsistent with the principle of providing equal conditions for all participating teams,” the association said on Friday. These types of “restrictions” are also harmful to competition preparations, according to the association.
After the match against New Zealand bit Iranian captain Mehdi Taremi and national coach Amir Ghalenoei away from himself. “Everything is like a disaster for us,” Taremi said. After the match, Ghalenoei called his team “the most oppressed country” of the World Cup, because the team was not given time to recover after the match.
Taremi told the press that the team had complained in the dressing room to FIFA boss Gianni Infantino, who had entered the dressing room after the match to to put your heart under the belt. “You are stronger than everything,” Infantino said in front of the cameras.
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