The Iranian team was eliminated from the group stage of the World Cup on Saturday (27), ending a participation involving diplomatic episodes with the United States, one of the host countries, difficulties with visas, long trips before and after matches and letters of thanks and criticism.
Early in the morning on Sunday, after the result of the match between Algeria and Austria confirmed Iran’s elimination, the Iranian Football Federation released a new expression of dissatisfaction with the treatment received in the tournament and said that the conduct of the United States was “unfair and unsportsmanlike”.
According to the New York Times, the Iranian Football Federation thanked the Mexicans in a statement for their hospitality and generosity. “We will always be grateful to the great and generous people of Mexico, as well as the government of Mexico, for their hospitality and respect.”
The presidents of Iran’s state football federations also signed a note stating that the host country “deliberately imposed obstacles” to the team’s presence at the World Cup.
The United States and Iran have been at war since February, which led to 15 members of the Iranian delegation being denied visas. The players obtained authorizations, but they only came out ten days before the World Cup debut.
Initially, Iran’s base for the World Cup would be Tucson, Arizona, but the team had to transfer it to Tijuana, Mexico, and could only enter the United States the day before each game. I also had to return to Tijuana right after the matches.
Only at the beginning of last week did the United States government relax the travel rules for Iranians and allowed the team to enter the country two days before the match against Egypt, in Seattle, on Friday (26).
After the match in which Iran and Egypt drew 1-1, Iranian captain Mehdi Taremi said the players had the feeling “they want Iran eliminated.” The player described the World Cup in North America as a disaster.
“Now we have to travel to Tijuana again, without recovering, without anything.”
The statements released this Sunday join two other letters left by players in Los Angeles and Seattle after their matches in those cities.
In the first, Iran faced Belgium, a match that ended goalless. In the note, the players thank the city for its hospitality and mention an attack on a school in Minab on the first day of the war with the United States, in which, according to reports, 168 girls died.
In the locker room at the stadium in Seattle, the Iranians once again cited the local hospitality and also their frustration with the draw that, the following morning, would lead to the elimination of the team from the tournament.
“Perhaps a team can advance from a group, but only through justice and honor can it stand tall in the face of history,” read the handwritten message from the team and released by the Iranian football federation. “Fair play is not just a line in the rules of football, it is the soul of the game”, completed the text.
With international agencies
