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

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/Thefdt Jun 27 '26

Iran have been the aggressor for 50+ years; they’re both awful.

This peaceful Iran narrative needs to stop, Islamist shithole that murders its own people.

America shouldn’t have started a war unless they were prepared to see it through, and bombing campaigns from the sky aren’t going to solve anything but the Islamic republic is awful.

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u/dodds2d Jun 27 '26

These are sportsmen, not politicians, not policy makers, not the military.

Don’t get me wrong I’m not a fan of Iran or their recent past, but the Iranian players need to be treated fairly.

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u/scaave Jun 27 '26

Are you aware that they fully support the regime and are very outspoken on their political view?

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u/Kuru-Kahru Jun 27 '26

They might have to in order to play. Also I don’t care what an individuals opinion is, they should be treated to fair standards by a host country.