Mexico will host the Iranian national football team for the upcoming FIFA World Cup due to tensions with the United States. FIFA approached Mexico about hosting Iran after the US indicated it did not want to do so. Mexico said it has no reason to deny Iran the possibility of staying in Mexico. Iran had been scheduled to play group matches in the US, but the US has not granted visas, citing safety concerns. Iran’s federation head said the team will move its training base from Tucson to Tijuana after meetings with FIFA officials and an online call with FIFA’s secretary general. The move is intended to avoid visa complications and allow direct travel to Mexico on Iran Air flights. The ongoing US-Israel war with Iran has increased uncertainty around participation.
"Mexico will host the Iranian national football team during the upcoming FIFA World Cup, due to tensions with the United States. On Monday, Sheinbaum said that FIFA, the global football governing body, had approached Mexico about hosting Iran, after the US said it did not wish to do so. Sheinbaum said during her daily media conference. We have no reason to deny them the possibility of staying in Mexico, Sheinbaum said during her daily media conference."
"Previously, Iran had been scheduled to play all three of its group matches in the US. But the administration of US President Donald Trump has previously said it is not appropriate for Iranian team members to be in the country, for their own life and safety. It has yet to grant the Iranian team the necessary visas to travel to the US, despite Trump's assertion that players and staff would be welcome."
"The head of Iran's football federation, Mehdi Taj, confirmed on Sunday that the team planned to move its training base from Tucson, Arizona, to the Mexican border city of Tijuana. Taj explained that team leaders got approval for the move after meeting with FIFA officials in Istanbul, as well as holding an online conference with FIFA's Secretary General, Mattias Grafstrom. Switching the team's base to Mexico, Taj said, would help avoid visa complications, with the team able to travel directly to Mexico aboard Iran Air flights."
"Since February 28, the US and Israel have been at war with Iran, and peace negotiations are tense but ongoing. The war has also thrown the global economy into tu... The war has cast a pall over the World Cup, making the Iranian team's participation uncertain. Roughly 3,468 people have been killed in Iran since February's war began, and more than 26,500 have been injured. Further fatalities have been reported across the region."
#fifa-world-cup #iran-national-football-team #mexico-us-relations #visa-and-travel-restrictions #us-israel-iran-conflict
Read at www.aljazeera.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]