Iran’s World Cup Squad Must Enter and Exit US Territory on the Same Day

Iran’s Team Melli have been told they have to enter and leave United States soil on the same day as their matches, and integral parts of their coaching staff have been refused visas to the World Cup.

Iranian ambassador to Mexico Abolfazl Pasandideh, who disclosed that the visas were secured again, confirmed that the national team can enter the United States and leave within 24 hours.

“They can enter [the US] in the morning, and on the same day they have to leave,” Pasandideh told the media.

Amir Ghalenoei and his team had originally intended to train in Tucson, Arizona, but instead arrived in Tijuana early on Sunday ahead of three World Cup matches in the United States.

The Iranian embassy in Turkey said visas had been refused to a large part of the managerial and executive staff, amid tensions that have turned the world’s biggest sporting event into a soft-power competition between the warring countries.

The Iranian ambassador Pasandideh said 15 of the 70 party members arriving in Tijuana on Sunday had been refused visas to enter the US.

The football federation’s Secretary General, Hedayat Mombini; Executive Director Mehdi Kharati; Media Director Mohsen Motamedkia; and President Mehdi Taj, of the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) had not been granted visas.

Iran’s opening two games against New Zealand (June 15) and Belgium (June 21) will be held in Los Angeles. Iran then faces Egypt on June 26 in Seattle, in the north-western state of Washington.

It will be the first time the World Cup has been held since 1930 that a host nation is due to be handed a country with which it is at war.