Iran’s FIFA World Cup participation in doubt

Agency :

The president of the Iran Football Federation has questioned whether the national team will be able to play their World Cup matches in the United States following recent US and Israeli military strikes.
Mehdi Taj told sports outlet Varzesh3 that the current situation has overshadowed preparations for the tournament.
“What is certain is that after this attack, we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope,” he said, as Iran continued exchanging fire with Israel amid a widening regional conflict.
The escalation followed joint US-Israeli strikes on Iranian targets for a second consecutive day after what Iranian authorities described as the martyrdom of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
His death has left the future of the Islamic Republic uncertain and heightened concerns about wider instability across the Middle East.
Iran has been drawn in Group G at the tournament and are scheduled to face New Zealand in Inglewood, California, on 15 June, Belgium on 21st June, and Egypt in Seattle on 26 June.
The United States is co-hosting the competition with Canada and Mexico, with the tournament running from 11 June to 19 July.
It is pertinent to mention that the Iranian supporters had already encountered difficulties after being included in an earlier version of a US travel ban introduced during the Trump administration.
World governing body FIFA did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding Iran’s potential participation in the competition.
FIFA wrote that it can decide to replace a withdrawn team “with another association,” though without specifying the replacement must come from the same continental confederation.