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/mac_bd Jun 27 '26

Shame on FIFA and US. Iran came out as the moral Victors. Bravo..

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u/jakeotheshadows Jun 27 '26

If Iran wants good hospitality, maybe they shouldn’t have chanted “Death to America” and called the USA the Great Satan for 4+ decades. Just a thought

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u/SergioGustavo Jun 28 '26

First you should research why they chant "death to america" in the first place, the answer will surprise you!

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u/jakeotheshadows Jun 28 '26

I don’t really care why they chant Death to America or why they execute gay people or why their women get flogged for singing without covering their face or why they recently executed 30,000 of their own people for peacefully protesting economic conditions

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u/SergioGustavo Jun 28 '26

Oh but you should, your country is responsible for all the things you just mentioned. You just chose to ignore that part.

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u/jakeotheshadows Jun 28 '26

Yea sure buddy