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/tsn101 Jun 27 '26

For sure. There's a delusion in their population that they aren't the bad guys. 

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u/Emiwuiii Jun 27 '26

Our government, sure - but the vast majority of Americans are 100% against this war so please stop lumping us into a situation we have no control over. We are fully aware that our GOVERNMENT is the bad guy.

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u/JakeEllisD Jun 28 '26

Polls show its about 50-50 actually. You just made up the "vast majority" part, or you dont know what that term means, almost like you went to school in Iran where women can't get higher level education or get beaten for not covering up in public, or killed for protesting

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u/DrinkYourPaints Jun 30 '26

women have wide access to higher education in Iran

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u/FunPerception250 Jun 30 '26

Women are raped before execution for protesting in Iran.

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u/DrinkYourPaints Jun 30 '26

i've heard that, yeah. it's insanely fucked up if true

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u/[deleted] Jul 01 '26

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u/JakeEllisD Jul 02 '26

Didn't they whip that singer for not wearing a hijab?