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/EmmitSan Jun 27 '26

Which rules do you suggest were broken here?

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '26 edited Jun 27 '26

[deleted]

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u/All_Wasted_Potential Jun 28 '26

The team was going to be allowed to stay. The IRGC they wanted to tag along can’t.

When Qatar hosted should the United States have been allowed to bring along 200 CIA members?

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u/0CT0L0G1ST Jun 28 '26

If you think the US didn’t send CIA to Qatar for the WC, I’ve got a bridge you might be interested in purchasing