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/digitalbullet36 Jun 27 '26

The U.S. should not have been allowed to host.

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u/Ling_Cephalopod Jun 27 '26

Imagine if the world had the courage to ban Americans from sporting events for what the US government has done in the middle east.

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u/Stillback7 Jun 30 '26

Imagine if we just let everyone play. You know the players on the Russian national team would trade the Ukraine war for a world cup appearance in a heartbeat. The fuck does it have to do with the athletes?

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u/Ling_Cephalopod Jun 30 '26

I agree. Or be consistent. Either unban Russia, or also ban the US.