FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström stated that he held a constructive and positive meeting with the president of the Iranian Football Federation, Mehdi Taj, regarding the participation of the Iranian national team in the World Cup to be held this summer in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The Iranian national team is expected to play all three group stage matches in the US, however its participation was called into question following political tensions and the recent attacks on Iran in late February.
The situation was further complicated after Taj was denied entry to Canada earlier this month due to his suspected ties to the IRGC, an organization classified as terrorist by the US and Canada.
“We had an excellent and constructive meeting with the representatives of the Iranian Football Federation. We are working together and we look forward to welcoming them to the World Cup,” Grafström said during his visit to Istanbul.
On the other hand, Taj confirmed that the meeting with FIFA was positive and that the organization had offered solutions to all issues raised by the Iranian side.
Mehdi Taj met with Mattias Grafstrom in Istanbul (Photo: Reuters)
“I hope our national team goes to the World Cup without any problems and achieves good results,” he said.
Grafström declined to provide concrete details about visa issues for Iranian players, but stressed that FIFA is addressing all necessary aspects.
Meanwhile, Iran had requested that its matches be moved to Mexico, but FIFA president Gianni Infantino has insisted that the matches be held in the stadiums originally planned.
The Iranian national team will travel to Turkey on Monday for the preparatory phase, while in early June it will move to the training base in Tucson.
Iran will kick off the World Cup on June 15 in Los Angeles against the New Zealand National Team, and will then face the Belgium National Team and the Egypt National Team in Group G.
