FIFA, headed by Gianni Infantino, is not interested in the Iranian national team's refusal to participate in the Mundial // Photo: reuters.com.
The head of world soccer held meetings with the Iranian national team, its coaching staff, the first vice-president of the Iranian profile federation Mehdi Mohammad Nabi and the head of the international relations department of the organization Omid Jamali, who were in Antalya (Turkey) at the training camp.
Support from FIFA
Infantino expressed his support for the Iranian national team and once again congratulated it for reaching the World Cup and for making millions of its fans around the world proud. In doing so, he tried to deny rumors that the Islamic Republic was close to withdrawing from the Mundial.
“Representing a nation is a huge responsibility and I urged the players to continue to inspire their fans by giving them a dream on the world stage. Soccer brings unity and hope even in the most challenging circumstances and FIFA will continue to support the team to ensure the best possible conditions as they prepare for the World Cup. I look forward to seeing them present a positive message of humanity and unity to the world,” the FIFA president emphasized, sharing the outcome of the meeting.
Uncertainty remains
With just over two months to go until the World Cup, the situation with the possible refusal of Iran’s national team to participate in the tournament still persists. Earlier, Iranian Sports Minister Ahmad Donyamali and Football Federation President Mehdi Taj said that due to the escalating military conflict around the Islamic Republic of a decision has been made to boycott the Mundial.
The high price of refusal
Later FIFA announced that if the Iranian national team refuses to participate, it will be fined from €275,000 to €555,000 and suspended from competitions held under the auspices of the organization.
Iran got a direct ticket to the World Cup after the qualifying tournament in Asia. The national team has participated in three previous tournaments. According to the results of the draw, Iran found itself in the same group with the national teams of Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand. The matches in this group will be held in the United States.
Earlier Logos Press reported about the last six national teams that received the remaining tickets to the World Cup in the knockout matches. They were Bosnia and Herzegovina, DR Congo, Iran, Turkey, Czech Republic and Sweden. The tournament, which will be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada from June 11 to July 19, will feature a record 48 national teams instead of 32 from 1998 to 2022.
