FIFA World Cup 2026: Iran accuses US of discriminatory treatment after visa denial for delegation staff

Iran on Saturday slammed World Cup host the United States over what it called "discriminatory treatment" by not granting visas for some members of the Iranian delegation to attend the tournament.

"Why do you not say that visas were denied to a large portion of the managerial and executive staff, technical advisers, and others who are an integral part of any national football team?" the Iranian embassy in Turkey said in a post on X, referring to an earlier announcement by US envoy Tom Barrack that visas had been granted to players.

"You have now escalated the deliberate and discriminatory treatment against Iran's national football team to its highest level," the embassy added.


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On Friday, Barrack praised the US embassy in Ankara over its "work processing visas for Iran's national football team" after the head of the Iranian football federation, Mehdi Taj, said on the same day that Iranian delegation have submitted passports for visas.

But reports on Saturday from the Iranian media, including sports media Varzesh3, said members of the delegation, including Taj along with executive members and analysts have not been granted visas.

On Friday, Taj told state television that his "assessment is that all visas will be issued in full, and there most likely will not be any problem in this regard".

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The Iranians relocated their World Cup base, which was initially planned to be in Tucson, Arizona, to the northwestern Mexican border city of Tijuana.

All three of the team's group matches are in the United States.

Team Melli is to kick off their tournament with two games in Los Angeles against New Zealand on June 15 and Belgium on June 21, and to play Egypt on June 27 in Seattle.