After the American-Israeli attacks on Iran over the weekend, FIFA tried to call for calm.
– Our focus is on a safe toilet in which all teams participate. We will continue to communicate with the governments of the three host countries as usual, regardless of the situation. Everyone will be safe, says FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström, according to ESPN.
Regarding Iran’s participation in the FIFA World Cup, it is “too early” to make a statement for FIFA.
At the same time, the president of the Iranian Football Association, Mehdi Taj, told local state media that Iran “can no longer look forward to the World Cup with hope after this attack,” according to the AP.
All of Iran’s group stage matches will be played in the United States.
It may seem undeniably “premature” to talk about football during war, but the summer championship is fast approaching and there are many question marks.
If Iran withdraws from the World Cup or is even blocked by the USA, there is no clear replacement candidate. Iraq will play a playoff for the final World Cup place in the Asian qualifiers at the end of March and will face Bolivia or Suriname. If Iraq misses the World Cup in this way, the country could be offered Iran’s World Cup place from Asia based on the principle of “closest to qualifying on its own”. If Iraq wins the playoffs on March 31, the United Arab Emirates could be offered a spot instead, as they lost to Iraq in the Asian World Cup playoff game. FIFA currently has no precedent to rely on as no country has withdrawn from a World Cup play-off since 1950.
In 2018, just a month before the 2026 FIFA World Cup was officially awarded to the United States, Donald Trump signed a letter promising that “all athletes, executives and fans from various countries around the world will be able to enter the United States without exception.”
Still in December Last year, Iran boycotted the World Cup draw in Washington after several of the country’s delegates were denied entry visas to the United States. Iran is one of four World Cup-ready countries whose citizens are currently unable to obtain entry visas to the United States.
According to The Athletic, it is unclear whether Donald Trump’s 2018 promise is legally binding and whether the US president would even keep it if it were.
Fellow host country Mexico has been hit by a wave of violence after drug cartel leader El Mencho was killed by the Mexican military in February. The Jalisco region, where the World Cup venue Guadalajara is located, has now declared a state of emergency.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said last week she saw “no risk” that the country would be unable to ensure the safety of the championship and fans this summer.
But on Friday she confirmed that FIFA would soon send delegates to Mexico to restore order.
– We agreed that a FIFA team should come here to examine various issues. We’ve been working on this for a long time, but of course the safety aspect is particularly important, said Sheinbaum, according to ESPN.
The upload before the World Cup was characterized by geopolitical uncertainty, often with one of the host countries themselves as the sender. This summer, in light of the American threat to invade Greenland, several voices were raised in favor of a Danish, Nordic and European boycott of the USA. Donald Trump’s repeated verbal attacks on neighboring countries and co-hosts Mexico and Canada, referring to the latter as “the 51st U.S. state,” have also put intense pressure on the tri-party hosting of this summer’s World Cup.
