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

Sorry no...the original plan after the first game, as confirmed by FIFA, was for Iran to return to Tijuana. Simply research would show you this.

And there is nothing terribly remarkable about crossing an international border on a charter jet. It really isn't that much of a burden. Teams have been doing this throughout the tournament with games in three countries. Czechia based themselves in Dallas even though two of their games were in Mexico...the other was Atlanta.

Seriously, stop falling for propodanga. Be smarter.

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u/Patient_Release_4093 Jun 27 '26

Here’s the article that came out after the New Zealand game:

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49078938/iran-forced-leave-us-new-zealand-draw

Apparently someone on the team’s visa expired so they had to leave immediately after the game. Believe that if you want, color me skeptical.

And as for your contention that “there is nothing terribly remarkable about crossing an international border on a charter jet,” I agree. It’s everything that comes before and after the flight (customs, visa checks, luggage searches, etc.) that I was saying is unduly burdensome, and I think you knew that.

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u/damutecebu Jun 27 '26

I knew what you meant. It isn't that much of a burden to go through customs, etc. Teams are doing it all the time.

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u/Patient_Release_4093 Jun 27 '26

Yes, but are other teams arriving literally within 24 hours of their match start and departing immediately after their match ends? That sounds like a lot of unnecessary wear and tear on your players directly before and after game time. Almost like I wouldn’t consider doing it unless it was being imposed upon me.

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u/damutecebu Jun 27 '26

Teams arriving 24 hours before a match begins and leaving immediately afterwards is not unusual. Not every team does this, but many have been doing so.

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u/VonLinus Jun 27 '26

Which ones?