The Iran national football team will not participate in the World Cup to be held in the USA, Canada, and Mexico in the summer.
This week, US President Donald Trump initially told the head of FIFA that the participation of Iranian football players in the championship would be welcomed. However, after the Iran national team withdrew from the World Cup, Trump wrote on social media that their participation is not suitable in terms of the safety of the Iranian team.
Medianews.az reports that Iran’s national football team has responded to Trump’s latest statement.
The statement posted on the team’s social media account declared that, in fact, a country that cannot ensure safety should be deprived of hosting the World Cup: “No one can exclude the Iran national team from the World Cup. If there is a country to be excluded, it is the country that, while holding the title of ‘host’, is incapable of protecting the safety of the teams participating in this international competition.”
Medianews.az indicates that discussions are now intensifying over which team will replace the Iran national team in the championship.
FIFA is more inclined to fill the vacant spot of Iran with a representative from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
The most realistic candidates mentioned are the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Iraq. One of the main scenarios currently under consideration is that Iraq would be directly admitted to the final stage, and its playoff spot would be given to the UAE.
Another possibility is that the higher-ranked UAE would directly participate in the tournament, and Iraq would play the predetermined playoff match. Although the idea of having Nigeria fill this spot has been suggested, according to regulations, substitution from the same continent is considered more logical.
It should be noted that Iran was supposed to be in the same group in the tournament with Belgium, Egypt, and New Zealand.