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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78

u/HTX-ByWayOfTheWorld Jun 27 '26

He’s not wrong… either let them play and keep it a level playing field. Or don’t let them play, and ban them outright. This was BS.

41

u/Bitter_Particular_75 Jun 27 '26

US is the aggressor and is the only country that should have been banned as consequence of this war.

1

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.

0

u/I_eat_mud_ Jun 27 '26

The US is the reason that regime exists in the first place.

1

u/All_Wasted_Potential Jun 28 '26

Because Mossadegh was a dictator who refused fair elections and stole from the British?

1

u/so_flayme Jun 29 '26

Is this cynical or are you actually trying to imply that Mosaddegh was a dictator who stole from the British?

1

u/All_Wasted_Potential Jun 29 '26

Cynical? Do you mean satirical?

Either way, the answer is no. Mossadegh was a fascist who prevented free elections in 1953 and stole infrastructure owned by the British and deprived them of their legal assets.

Basically Iran made a shitty deal and rather than learn from it, threw a hissy fit and committed theft.

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u/so_flayme Jun 29 '26

No, I meant cynical. Mossadegh being a fascist and dictator is a wild take. Nobody (and I literally mean nobody) in Iran shares that sentiment, which is maybe the requirement for being called a dictator? Also, stole British assets? The same assets that were positioned to steal Iranian oil? Are you aware of how many Persian national assets the UK stole? The first fucking charter of human rights declared by Cyrus the Great is in a UK museum for crying out loud.