TEHRAN: Iran announced on Wednesday that it will now send representatives to the World Cup finals draw in Washington, in a complete reversal of an earlier decision to boycott the event over visa issues.
“Amir Ghalenoei, coach of Iran’s national team, will participate in the World Cup draw ceremony as a technical representative of the national football team with one or two other people,” the spokesman for the Iranian Football Federation said on state television.
On Friday, the federation’s spokesman said they had informed FIFA of the Iranian delegation’s non-participation in the ceremony, as the United States refused to grant visas to several members of the delegation.
Iranian sports website Varzesh 3 reported earlier that one of those denied a visa was Mehdi Taj, the federation’s president.
“We have told the head of FIFA, Mr. (Gianni) Infantino, that it is a purely political position and that FIFA should tell them (in the US) to stop this behavior,” Taj said at the time.
According to Varzesh 3, four members of the delegation, including Ghalenoei, had received visas for the December 5 draw.
Iran qualified for the sport’s quadrennial showpiece in March, securing a fourth consecutive World Cup finals appearance and a seventh overall.
They have yet to progress to the knockout stages, but there was boundless joy when, at the 1998 finals in France, Iran beat the USA 2-1 in group play.
The USA got their revenge by beating Iran 1-0 in the 2022 edition in Qatar.
The United States – which co-hosts the World Cup with Canada and Mexico – and Iran have been at loggerheads for more than four decades.
They did, however, hold high-level nuclear talks that began in April, during which the two sides were at odds over Iran’s right to enrich uranium – which Tehran defends as “inalienable”.
But the negotiations ended when in mid-June, Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran, sparking a 12-day war in which Washington briefly participated with strikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities.
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