The Iranian soccer federation claimed its ticket allocation for supporters has been pulled days before the tournament is set to kick off.
The federation, the FFIRI, said in a statement that it had already sold tickets to its group stage matches, but now could not provide them with those tickets.
“This is despite the fact that many Iranian football fans, relying on the officially announced process, had already made the necessary plans to attend the matches,” the federation said. “This development raises serious questions about the interference of non-sporting and political considerations in the organisation of the world’s biggest football event.”
Each federation gets about 8% of tickets for each match to give to supporters. In December, FIFA said it would price about 500 of those tickets per match for each federation at $60.
The FFIRI called on FIFA to “uphold the principles of neutrality, fairness, and established regulations.” FIFA President Gianni Infantino has come under fire from some football leaders, especially in Europe, who claim he has shown favoritism toward the U.S., including by creating the FIFA Peace Prize for President Donald Trump.
