United States President Donald Trump said on Tuesday (3) that he does not care whether or not Iran participates in this year’s World Cup, which will be hosted jointly by the USA, Mexico and Canada.
“I don’t really care. I think Iran is a very defeated country. They are on the brink of collapse,” Trump said.
Iran was the only nation absent from FIFA’s planning summit for World Cup participants held this week in Atlanta, raising doubts over whether Iran’s national soccer team will compete on American soil this summer amid an escalating regional war.
FIFA, world football’s governing body, did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Mehdi Taj, president of the Iran Football Federation, said the brutality of the attacks carried out by American and Israeli forces did not bode well for the World Cup, which will be held from June 11 to July 19.
“With what happened today [sábado, 28] and with the attack from the United States, it is difficult to look at the World Cup with hope, but this is a decision that belongs to the sport’s leaders”, said Taj.
Iran secured participation in its fourth consecutive World Cup by finishing first in Group A in the third round of Asian qualifiers last year.
The Iranians have been grouped with Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand in Group G. Their games are scheduled to take place in the USA, two in Los Angeles and one in Seattle.
If the United States and Iran finish second in their respective groups, the two countries could face each other in a knockout match on July 3 in Dallas.
Iran is one of two competing nations subject to Trump’s most restrictive travel ban, enacted by executive order last June. While the ban excludes World Cup teams and their support staff, decisions about visa exceptions for others — including government figures or executives at team-sponsoring companies — are left to the State Department on a case-by-case basis.
Andrew Giuliani, director of the White House FIFA World Cup Task Force, said in a January interview in Colorado Springs that security concerns would influence the administration’s approach to exceptions to the travel ban.
“President Trump’s decisive action to eliminate the Ayatollah, the most notorious state sponsor of terrorism in my lifetime, removes a major destabilizing threat and will help protect people around the world, including Americans and the millions who plan to attend the 2026 World Cup in the United States.”
