Iran will boycott next week’s World Cup finals draw in Washington after the United States refused to issue visas to several members of its delegation, the Iranian Football Federation announced on Friday.
The federation’s spokesperson told state television that the decision was “not related to sports” and confirmed that none of the Iranian officials would attend the December 5 event. Reports earlier in the week from Iranian sports outlet Varzesh 3 indicated that the US had declined visa requests for several officials, including federation president Mehdi Taj.
Taj criticised the move as a political decision and said he had raised the matter directly with FIFA President Gianni Infantino. “We have told FIFA that this is purely a political position and that FIFA must tell them to desist from this behaviour,” he said.
Despite the visa denials for key officials, Varzesh 3 reported that four members of the Iranian delegation, including head coach Amir Ghalenoei, had been granted entry for the draw.
Iran secured qualification for the World Cup in March, sealing a fourth consecutive appearance and their seventh overall. They have never reached the knockout stage, though their historic 2-1 victory over the United States in the 1998 tournament remains a landmark moment.
Tensions between the two countries have persisted for more than four decades. While both sides engaged in nuclear negotiations beginning in April, talks collapsed in mid-June following an unprecedented Israeli bombing campaign against Iran that triggered a 12-day conflict, during which the US briefly joined military action with strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
