FIFA agrees to Iran’s special request for the World Cup during peace talks with the United States.
FIFA has approved Iran’s recent request to change their World Cup base, Iran Football Federation president Mehdi Taj shared.
There had been worries about Iran taking part in the 48-team tournament because of ongoing tensions with the United States, especially after Iran was added to Donald Trump’s travel ban list. Initially, Iran planned to skip December’s World Cup draw due to visa problems. Now, Iran is in Group G with New Zealand, Belgium, and Egypt.
Back in February, after some air strikes, Iran even threatened to pull out of the World Cup and were denied entry to a key meeting. Although they later confirmed they would play, concerns remained because all their games are scheduled in the US, a country they have had conflicts with.
Iran asked to move their matches to Mexico, but FIFA said the logistics were too tricky. However, FIFA did agree to Iran’s request to move their team headquarters from Tuscan, Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico. Taj announced this on Saturday.
“FIFA has to approve all team base camps for the World Cup,” Taj said. “Thankfully, after our meetings in Istanbul and a recent online meeting with FIFA officials, our request to move from the US to Mexico was accepted.”
Right now, the Iran team is training in Turkey before their first match against New Zealand on June 15 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. They return to that stadium six days later to face Belgium, and finish the group stage against Egypt on June 27.
This switch to Tijuana could be helpful since the flight to Los Angeles is just 55 minutes. Taj also thinks the team might be able to use Iran Air planes. Visa issues should be easier to handle since players and staff will only be in the US on game days before heading back out.
After a ceasefire agreement, the US and Iran are working on a peace deal. Trump has said the deal is mostly done, and final details are being talked through. This followed a positive phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Iran earned their spot in the World Cup in March by winning Group A in Asian qualifiers. This is their seventh time at the tournament, and the team is hoping to get past the group stage for the first time.
SPORTbible has asked FIFA for a comment.