March 3 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he does not care whether Iran participates in this summer’s World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.
“I really don’t care. I think Iran is a very badly defeated country. They’re walking on the ground,” Trump told Politico.
Iran was the only country missing from a FIFA scheduling summit for World Cup participants held in Atlanta this week, raising questions about whether the country’s soccer team will compete on U.S. soil this summer amid an escalating regional war.
Football’s world governing body, FIFA, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
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Mehdi Taj, president of the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, said the ferocity of the attacks by US and Israeli forces does not bode well for the World Cup, which will be held from June 11 to July 19.
Iran secured a trip to a fourth consecutive World Cup by beating Group A in the third round of Asian qualifying last year.
The Iranians were grouped with Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand in Group G.
Their matches will take place in the US, two in Los Angeles and one in Seattle.
If both the US and Iran finish second in their respective groups, the two countries could meet in an elimination match on July 3 in Dallas.
According to Politico, Iran is one of two competing countries subject to Trump’s most restrictive travel ban, which was issued by executive order last June. While the ban applies to World Cup teams and support staff, decisions on visa exemptions for others — including government officials or executives of team-sponsoring companies — are left to the State Department on a case-by-case basis.
Andrew Giuliani, director of the White House FIFA World Cup Task Force, said in a January interview in Colorado Springs that security concerns would shape the administration’s approach to exceptions to the travel ban.
Giuliani added in a statement to Politico on Tuesday: “President Trump’s decisive action to eliminate the Ayatollah, the most notorious state sponsor of terrorism in my lifetime, removes a major destabilizing threat and will help protect people around the world, including Americans and the millions planning to attend the 2026 World Cup in the United States.”
In modern times, no team that has qualified has not participated in the World Cup finals. Iran would almost certainly be replaced if it withdraws from the tournament.
(Reporting by Christian Martinez and Bhargav Acharya; additional reporting Angelica Medina; Editing by Michelle Nichols, David Ljunggren and Alistair Bell)
