FIFA confirms Iran will compete at their originally scheduled US World Cup venues despite safety concerns and the recent US-Israel war on the country.
Iran will play their World Cup games at US venues as scheduled, FIFA president Gianni Infantino has toldAFP.'The matches will be played where they are supposed to be, according to the draw,' Infantino said at half-time of Iran's friendly against Costa Rica in Türkiye on Tuesday.
'Iran will be at the World Cup... That's why we're here. We're delighted because they're a very, very strong team, I'm very happy,' Infantino also added.The Iranian football federation said earlier this month it was 'negotiating' with FIFA to relocate the country's World Cup matches from the United States to Mexico, due to the US and Israel's war on Iran.Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum also said that her country is prepared to host Iran's first-round matches at the tournament if needed.The World Cup, being hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, gets under way on June 11, with Iran set to play their first Group G game against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15.‘No one can exclude’Infantino initially said that US President Donald Trump had given assurances that the Iranian team - scheduled to face New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles, followed by Egypt in Seattle - would still be welcome.But Trump then stated that Iran's football team should not travel to the tournament 'for their own life and safety'.Iran hit back at Trump's comments, saying that 'no one can exclude Iran's national team from the World Cup'.Infantino took his seat in the stands for Tuesday's match near Antalya.His attendance had not been previously announced, and the media were kept away from the stand where he was sitting.Iran also played a friendly against Nigeria in the Turkish town of Belek last Friday.The players wore black armbands and posed with school rucksacks as the national anthem played to remember the victims of a strike on a primary school in Iran on the first day of the war.The air strike on the school in the southern Iranian city of Minab on February 28 killed at least 170 people, including students and teachers.The New York Timeshas reported that the preliminary findings of a US military investigation indicate that a US Tomahawk cruise missile hit the school due to a targeting mistake.
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