This year’s World Cup was expected to show the growth of this sport in all continents around the world, but that is starting to change because of the war between Iran, Israel and the United States.
The tournament, which will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, is scheduled to be played by 48 teams for the first time from June 11 to July 19.
Iran became the third country to reserve a place for itself in March last year, following Japan and New Zealand, but this country is in danger of not playing if it continues to clash with Israel, which is allied with the United States and other countries.
Since these countries started attacking each other last weekend, there are many indications that the Iranian team may no longer participate in the World Cup, either by choice or by being blocked by the United States.
“It is not easy to make a definite decision right now, but it will be there. We will still put our heads together in the coming days to decide what will happen. What we can say right now is that since there is such a terrible war, we have little hope for the World Cup,” said the president of the Iran Football Federation, Mehdi Taj, as quoted by Al Jazeera speaking on IRIB Channel.
Iran should start this tournament in Group G where they have been drawn with New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt. All three group matches are scheduled to be played in the USA, two in California and one in Seattle.
These ongoing conflicts mean that it is unlikely that players, officials and fans of Iran will receive letters that would allow them to enter the USA.
If this country withdraws or is banned from entering the USA, FIFA must find a way to fill its place.
In the history of sports, it has happened that countries have chosen to boycott competitions for political reasons, as happened when Argentina withdrew from the World Cup that was to be played in Brazil in 1950.
In 1976, African countries boycotted the Montreal Olympics following the non-exclusion of New Zealand from the competition since its rugby team played in South Africa that year, during apartheid.
This year, the Bangladesh national cricket team boycotted the World Cup due to disagreements with India, which is co-hosting the tournament with Sri Lanka. Bangladesh’s gap is closed by Scotland.
The world governing body, FIFA, can do this if Iran eventually withdraws. But because football is famous all over the world, that decision could cause a lot of noise that could affect the sponsors of the tournament.
In an interview with the website Politico, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, said that he is not sure whether Iran will still play in the World Cup.
“I don’t care about that. What I know is that Iran is a country that has been defeated, that is breathing its last breath,” said Trump.
This president was honored by Fifa with a new award called the Fifa Peace Prize in December last year.
Iran’s national team, Melli, has played six times in the World Cup, in 1978, 1998, 2006, 2014, 2018 and 2022. It never made it past the group stage.
It is coached by Amir Ghalenoei who is originally from Iran. The captain is midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh, who previously played for Brighton and Hove Albion in England. He still plays for FCV Dender in the Belgian top division.