By Ece Toksabay and Mert Ozkan
ANTALYA, Turkey, May 18 (Reuters) – Iran’s national soccer squad landed in Turkey for a training camp on Monday ahead of their planned trip to the U.S. for the World Cup, with uncertainty still hanging over the team’s participation after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in late February.
FIFA Secretary-General Mattias Grafstrom told Reuters on Saturday that he held a constructive and positive meeting with Iran‘s FA (FFIRI) President Mehdi Taj, expressing confidence about the country’s participation in the World Cup.
The players and officials filed out of Antalya Airport in black team outfits, many pulling black suitcases, before heading to waiting buses to travel to their hotel at the training base in the nearby resort of Belek, where several national teams have held camps in recent years.
FIFA Says Talks With Iran’s FA Ahead Of World Cup Were Positive
Iran are scheduled to play all three group matches in the United States but the team’s participation in the June 11 to July 19 tournament has been in question since the attacks by the U.S. and Israel.
Iranian officials and FIFA have said U.S. visa applications for the team would be handled in Turkey. Uncertainty over the visas was fuelled after FFIRI’s Taj was refused entry to Canada for the FIFA Congress in Vancouver this month because of his links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The U.S. and Canada, who are co-hosting the World Cup with Mexico, classify the IRGC as a “terrorist entity” and have made clear they will not admit people with links to the elite military force.
Iran had asked for their World Cup matches to be switched to Mexico but FIFA President Gianni Infantino insists that all games must be played at the grounds originally scheduled.
Iran‘s squad is scheduled to move to their U.S. base at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Arizona in early June.
Iran are scheduled to get their World Cup campaign under way against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15. They are also due to play Belgium and Egypt in Group G.
(Reporting by Ece Toksabay and Mert Ozkan; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Ed Osmond)
