Iran is not allowed to be in the United States for more than a day even on World Cup match days.
Ambassador Albolfazl Pasandideh (right) spoke about the deadline set by the United States on Saturday. EPA/AOP
The Iranian national football team received a blunt decision from the United States, reported the Daily Mail.
The Iranian team staying in Mexico can be on US soil for a maximum of 24 hours at a time. You have to arrive and leave the country during the same day.
The reason is that some of Iran’s coaches and the team’s background staff did not get visas to the United States.
– We can travel to the United States in the morning and we have to leave the same day, Iran’s ambassador to Mexico Abolfazl Pasandideh told the media.
Ambiguity
The United States and Iran share conflicting information about how many people were left without visas.
The United States announced that it had granted visas to all Iranian players and “key officials”.
– We will not allow Iran to exploit the system so that it can secretly bring terrorists to the United States under the guise of invented reasons, US officials justified their line.
The Iranian embassy in Turkey, on the other hand, said that a large part of the World Cup team’s management team and advisors were left without visas. The delegation accused the Americans of mixing politics with sports.
The story continues after the picture.
Iran will start their World Cup campaign on June 16. PDO
Iran’s state media reported that the president of the country’s football association Mehdi Taj didn’t get a visa.
Visa problems made headlines already in April. Taj tried to get to the Fifa conference in Vancouver but was turned away at the Canadian border. According to Canadian authorities, Taj has ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRCC), which is why his visa was denied.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said later in the spring that Iranian players are welcome at the World Cup, but IRCC connections could affect visas for others.
Iran will play their opening match of the World Cup on June 16 against New Zealand. It also faces Egypt and Belgium in the preliminary series.