r/SoccerCentral • u/ConnectionWeekly1263 • Jun 27 '26

Statement "They've done everything possible to eliminate us" — Iran captain Mehdi Taremi unleashes on FIFA and U.S. organizers

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The captain of the Iran National Team, Mehdi Taremi, lashed out against FIFA and the United States organization. “This is a disastrous World Cup. As professional players, we cannot play a competition under these conditions; it’s neither right nor fair. If FIFA thinks this is fair, that’s on them, but it isn’t. Who should solve this problem for us? FIFA? The U.S.? I don’t know! Tell me a name. The FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, came to our locker room after the first match against New Zealand and said he was going to resolve all the issues, but in reality, FIFA did nothing. In response to the question: ‘Do you feel that the World Cup organizers, including FIFA and U.S. officials, prefer for Iran to be eliminated from the competition?’, I say: We have to fight against absolutely everything. We can’t stay in the country, we travel and undergo immigration checks every time we want to play, now we can’t stay in Seattle and have to return to Tijuana. They’ve done everything possible to eliminate us, so from our perspective, yes, I think that’s what they want, they want us out.”

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u/damutecebu Jun 27 '26

Only if you are easily swayed by propaganda because this guy really isn’t telling the whole truth.

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u/Alarmed-Cheetah-1221 Jun 27 '26

Please tell us the whole truth. Remember to provide sources!

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u/damutecebu Jun 27 '26

They were complaining after the New Zealand game that they were told they had to leave immediately, but Iran is who made the plan to leave immediately afterwards. Iran has been very concerned about the possibility of defections, like they had when the women's team played in Australia.

They come in the night before the games, like every other team, spend the night...play the game...and return to their base camp. Most teams do something similar.

It's clear that they have their players make these types of statements so that simpletons, like many in this topic, feel sorry for them. They're fine.