FIFA delegation set to meet Iran soccer officials for World Cup talks

President of the FFIRI, Mehdi Taj, described the meeting as "decisive" Saeid Zareian/picture alliance via Getty Images Share articleA FIFA delegation is set to meet officials from the Iran Football Federation (FFIRI) on Saturday to offer reassurance over the team’s participation at the 2026 World Cup in the United States. Sources briefed on the situation, speaking on the condition of anonymity, indicated the meeting is scheduled to take place in Istanbul, Turkey, and the FIFA delegation will be led by the federation’s secretary general Mattias Grafstrom. Iran’s participation at the World Cup has been in doubt since the American-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, which sparked a wider conflict across the Middle East. President of the FFIRI, Mehdi Taj, told reporters on Thursday, in quotes carried and translated by Reuters: “I think it’s a decisive meeting, meaning they have to give us some guarantees, because the visa issue hasn’t been resolved yet.” Multiple Iranian soccer officials were denied U.S. visas ahead of December’s World Cup draw, while at least one was turned back by Canadian authorities en route to April’s FIFA Congress. Speaking in April, U.S., Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran’s soccer team will be welcome at the World Cup but anyone deemed to have links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) will be denied entry. President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House his administration “would not want to affect ⁠the athletes” of Iran but Rubio said anyone deemed to be “terrorists” who “pretend they are journalists or athletic trainers” would not be allowed into the country. The IRGC has been designated as a terrorist organisation by the U.S. and other governments. FIFA and its president, Gianni Infantino, has consistently said that Iran will compete at the World Cup as planned. Iran are due to play group-stage matches in Los Angeles, against Belgium and New Zealand, and Seattle, against Egypt, during the tournament that is being co-hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada between June 11 and July 19. In February, Iran’s embassy said it was negotiating with FIFA to move its World Cup matches from the U.S. to Mexico, though football’s world governing body said it had no intention of allowing the change. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms