According to Iraf, following increased sensitivities regarding the preparation of Iran’s national football team for the World Cup, Kazem Gharibabadi, Deputy for Legal and International Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a message on the social media platform X, stressed the necessity of full adherence by both the host country and FIFA to their official commitments.
The 2026 World Cup will be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and since the majority of matches and team arrivals will take place on U.S. soil, Iran’s main concerns are directed toward the United States as one of the hosts.
He reminded that hosting the World Cup is not merely a privilege, but a binding responsibility to ensure equal and non-discriminatory participation for all qualified teams.
Gharibabadi wrote: the host country is obliged to provide conditions for entry, accommodation, transportation, official delegation participation, and competition execution for all teams without any selective treatment.
According to him, entry visas and administrative procedures must not be turned into instruments of political pressure or used to impose restrictions on a national team.
Referring to the fact that Iran’s national team earned its place on the field according to FIFA regulations, he emphasized that any obstruction to the entry of players, technical staff, or official delegation members constitutes a clear violation of the principles of equality, non-discrimination, and neutrality in international sports.
The Deputy Foreign Minister also recalled that FIFA’s statutes prohibit any discrimination against countries or individuals, and no country can impose its political disputes or unilateral domestic decisions in a manner that undermines a national team’s right to participate in the world’s largest football event.
Gharibabadi, in another part of his message, directly addressed FIFA’s responsibility, stating: if FIFA fails to guarantee that all teams, including Iran, can enter the host country without restrictions and compete on equal terms, the credibility of the World Cup itself will be called into question. He stressed that “the global nature of the World Cup is incompatible with political selectivity.”
In conclusion, he warned that sport is a field for athletic competition, not a continuation of political pressure through administrative means. Any illegal restrictions against Iran’s delegation would constitute a serious test for FIFA and the host country, revealing whether the principles of neutrality and non-discrimination are upheld or whether politicization overshadows global competition.
This comes as the participation of Iran’s national team in the 2026 World Cup has, in recent months, been affected by a series of political and administrative behaviors by the host, raising sensitivities in Tehran.
Following the escalation of political tensions between Iran and the United States, some political circles in Washington attempted to create uncertainty regarding the Iranian delegation’s entry under the pretext of security concerns—an action that Tehran views as inconsistent with the host country’s clear obligations.
During this period, the selection of the national team’s training camp also became a symbol of selective treatment, as Iran’s primary choice in California was rejected and another camp in Arizona was allocated to the team, a decision perceived domestically in Iran as evidence of informal pressure.
At the same time, the issue of issuing visas for players and federation officials has become one of the main concerns, which the Iranian government considers a violation of the principles of neutrality and non-discrimination.
