Iran cannot participate in this summer’s FIFA World Cup tournament, which is being co-hosted by the United States, the Iranian sports minister said Wednesday.
“Given that this corrupt government has assassinated our leader and created extreme insecurity, we cannot participate in the World Cup,” said Ahmad Donyamali in remarks broadcast on Iranian state television. “The players have no safety, and the conditions for participation simply don’t exist.”
The military campaign waged by the U.S., along with its ally Israel, began in late February. An Israeli strike on Feb. 28, partly enabled by American intelligence, killed the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other high-ranking officials. At least 1,300 Iranian civilians have been killed, according to Amir Saeid Iravani, the country’s ambassador to the United Nations.
It was not immediately clear whether Iran had formally withdrawn from the tournament. FIFA and the Iranian Football Federation did not immediately respond to NPR’s inquiries.
After FIFA president Gianni Infantino met with President Trump on Tuesday, Infantino said in a statement that Trump had “reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States.”
A team withdrawing from the World Cup so soon before it begins is without precedent in the modern era.
Under FIFA regulations, a team that withdraws from a tournament could face a fine of hundreds of thousands of dollars and a potential ban from future competition.
FIFA would have broad discretion to replace Iran in the tournament with another team, such as an alternate from the Asian Football Confederation, like Iraq or the United Arab Emirates.
Source: npr.org