May 6 (Reuters) – Iranian FA (FFIRI) head Mehdi Taj says FIFA must ensure the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is not offended by the United States if the national team is to travel to the country to play the World Cup in June.
An FFIRI delegation, including Taj, returned from the Canadian border last week due to what they said was disrespectful treatment by immigration officials as they attempted to attend the FIFA Congress in Vancouver.
Taj said the decision to return home had been their own, but Canada’s immigration minister later confirmed to Parliament that the FFIRI president’s visa had been revoked while he was in the air due to his ties to the IRGC.
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Canada designated the IRGC, an elite military force aimed at protecting Shiite Muslim clerical rule in Iran, as a “terrorist entity” in 2024, five years after the US did the same.
FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom sent a letter expressing regret over the “inconvenience and disappointment” the Iranians had experienced in Canada and inviting FFIRI to Zurich on May 20 for a meeting on their World Cup preparations.
Taj told state broadcaster IRIB on Tuesday that he would seek guarantees from the governing body on the treatment of the Iranian delegation in the US.
“We need a guarantee there before our trip that they do not have the right to insult the symbols of our system – especially the Islamic Revolutionary Guards,” he said on the sidelines of a pro-government rally in Tehran.
“This is something they need to pay serious attention to. If there is such a guarantee and responsibility is clearly accepted, an incident like what happened in Canada will not happen again.”
The US, Canada and Mexico will co-host the World Cup from June 11 to July 19, with Iran playing two group matches in Los Angeles and one in Seattle.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week that Washington has no objection to Iranian players participating in the tournament, but that no one with ties to the IRGC would be allowed into the country.
Taj, who served as a senior IRGC official in Isfahan province before moving into football administration, said anything short of ironclad guarantees could lead to the Iranian delegation returning to the US border.
“We are going to the World Cup, for which we have qualified, and our host is FIFA – not Mr Trump or America,” he added.
“If they accept receiving us, they must also accept that they must not insult our military institutions in any way.
“Because if they do that, of course, a similar situation could arise as in Canada, where there was the possibility that we would have to return.
“So there must be some kind of guarantee, so that we can leave with peace of mind.”
Iran’s participation in the World Cup has been under discussion since the US and Israel launched air strikes on the Islamic Republic in late February.
With Iranian top-flight football suspended, the home players have been in a training camp in Tehran in preparation for the tournament.
Taj said the FFIRI hoped to set up at least one friendly match with a “very good team” in neighboring Turkey, where Iran played matches against Nigeria and Costa Rica in late March.
