The President of the Iranian Football Federation (FFIRI), Mehdi Taj, has urged global governing body FIFA to guarantee safe access and respectful treatment for the country’s delegation ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Mehdi Taj made the demand amid rising diplomatic tensions and uncertainty over visas for Iranian officials travelling to the tournament, which the United States, Canada and Mexico will co-host.
Iran have already secured qualification but concerns persist over the treatment of officials linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“We need a guarantee there, for our trip, that they have no right to insult the symbols of our system, especially the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” Taj told state broadcaster IRIB.
“This is something they must pay serious attention to. If there is such a guarantee and the responsibility is clearly assumed, then an incident like what happened in Canada will not happen again.”
Taj referred to an incident earlier in the month when an FFIRI delegation was turned away at Toronto’s main airport due to their treatment by Canadian immigration, causing them to miss a pre-World Cup FIFA gathering in Vancouver.
The delegation members, including Taj, arrived at Pearson airport with valid visas but were sent back, citing what was called the “unacceptable behaviour of immigration officials.”
“They [delegation] returned to Turkiye on the first available flight due to the unacceptable behaviour of immigration officials at the airport and the insult to one of the most honourable organs of the Iranian nation’s armed forces,” the FFIRI said in a statement following the incident.
Truthng reports that Iran’s World Cup involvement has faced fresh scrutiny since the United States and Israel launched air strikes on the Islamic Republic in late February, deepening political tensions around the tournament.
