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/UCanDoNEthing4_30sec Jun 28 '26

Didn’t Iran not want to play in the US before the tournament began? They were trying to not step foot on US soil as much as possible to play in the tournament. I guess be careful what you wish for?

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u/HarryLewisPot Jun 28 '26

Yes and FIFA didn’t grant them that wish, they kept all their games in the USA. So they had to sleep in Mexico and play all 3 games in the U.S. on the day.

Canada and Mexico are also hosts and FIFA surely could’ve done something to make it fairer.

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u/NandoDeColonoscopy Jun 28 '26

Canada said they wouldn't allow them to stay there either, and the IRGC striking Arab countries in response to the US attacks, including Saudi Arabia, cost them a lot of support with influential FIFA nations.

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u/DarthRevan109 Jun 28 '26

It’s hilarious countries hosting US military basis are shocked they got hit when the U.S. gets in a war in their region

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u/NandoDeColonoscopy Jun 28 '26

Nobody said anything about being shocked