FIFA President Gianni Infantino promised Iran’s soccer federation full access to attend the team’s three World Cup matches in the United States. Iran’s World Cup team supervisor says he hasn’t delivered.
The fallout is already tangible. Approximately 15 backroom staff from the Iranian federation were denied entry to the US, stripping the squad of essential managerial and technical support during one of the biggest sporting events on the planet. The players themselves secured visas roughly ten days before their opening match, but the broader delegation wasn’t so lucky.
A training camp in Tijuana and same-day border crossings
The visa denials forced Iran to abandon its planned training camp in Arizona. The replacement location: Tijuana, Mexico, just across the border from Southern California.
It means the Iranian squad has to enter and exit the US exclusively on match days, with no ability to establish the kind of embedded presence that other teams enjoy during a World Cup cycle.
