Iranian World Cup soccer players have been granted visas to enter the United States, a U.S. official said days before their first match, but Iranian media said Saturday that some administrative workers had not received their visas.
That’s what the White House official said Reuters On Friday, 10 days before Iran plays in Los Angeles, the players said they had received their visas, after Iran’s ambassador to Mexico, Abolfazl Pasandideh, said on Thursday they had not received them.
A spokesperson for Iran’s World Cup federation could not immediately be reached for comment.
First World Cup in which the host countries host war opponents
Iran’s semi-official news agency Tasnim reported that among those denied visas were executive director Mehdi Kharati, Football Federation Secretary General Hedayat Mombini and media director Mohsen Motamedkia.
Employees without visas would travel with the team to Mexico as efforts to obtain visas continue, the agency said.
The US, Mexico and Canada are co-hosting the biggest global sporting event, which starts on Wednesday. The war against Iran, launched by the US and Israel in February, has turned the World Cup into a geopolitical battle, with both sides appearing to use the tournament for political display.
This is the first World Cup since its founding in 1930 in which a host country will host a country with which it is at war.
Tehran negotiated a last-minute move of the team’s base from Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico, due to visa problems and a growing sentiment in Iran that the team’s presence in the United States should be kept to a minimum.
They will land in Tijuana early Sunday.
Iran will play its first Group G match against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15, where it will also play Belgium before playing Egypt in Seattle.
Rubio says the US should exclude people linked to the Revolutionary Guards
The US never formally said it did not want the Iranian team to remain on its territory, Ambassador Pasandideh said.
However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers on Tuesday that the US would not allow Iran to include in its delegation people linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, a powerful branch of the Iranian armed forces.
Mehdi Taj, president of the Iranian Football Federation, was denied access to the draw for the tournament in Washington in December. He is a former commander of the Revolutionary Guards.
Iran’s desire to participate in the World Cup underlined its efforts to find a solution in the war with Washington, Pasandideh said.
“Iran’s participation in the World Cup – even on the basis of what is perceived as its enemy – shows that Iran seeks peace,” Pasandideh said through a Spanish interpreter at the Iranian embassy in Mexico City.
Progress in Iran-US peace talks has been slow, with both sides seemingly moving towards an interim deal even as they continue to carry out military strikes.
