Iran Says 14 Senior Delegation Members Were Denied U.S. Visas Ahead of the World Cup

The Iranian Football Federation accused the United States on Sunday of “vindictive behavior” after visas were refused for senior management and administrative members of its delegation. According to a report by Iranian state television, 14 delegation members did not receive entry visas, including the federation’s secretary general, Hedayat Mombani, and vice president Mehdi Mohammad Nabi. It is still unclear whether the federation president, Mehdi Taj, was among those denied visas.

According to the Iranian news agency Tasnim, efforts are still underway to obtain entry visas for all those who were refused. Among other steps, the Iranian federation turned to FIFA, the international football federation that organizes the World Cup, arguing that “the decision not to approve the entry of delegation members effectively prevents the Iranian national team from competing fairly and equally in a competition that is supposed to be free of discrimination.”

However, the players on the national team, including members of the professional staff and some of the administrative staff, received entry visas last Friday that will be valid starting June 14, one day before Iran’s first match in Los Angeles against New Zealand. Yesterday, the team and the rest of the delegation landed in Mexico, where the players will hold their final training camp before the World Cup. Iran decided to move its training camp from Phoenix, Arizona, to Tijuana, in part because of concerns about delays or denial of visas.

More on this topic Iran national team players returned to their country and were forced to step on an Israeli flag Iran national team players displayed photos of children killed in the war