Tehran, March 11: Iran’s Sports Minister Ahmad Donyamali said on Wednesday that the country cannot participate in the 2026 FIFA World Cup as the United States killed the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reported Al Jazeera, citing Reuters.
“Considering that this corrupt regime [the US] has assassinated our leader, under no circumstances can we participate in the World Cup,” Ahmad Donyamali told state television on Wednesday, according to the report.
The current round of conflict between Israel and the United States on one side and Iran on the other started on February 28. The West Asia conflict has caused disruption in global energy supply chains.
Ahmad Donyamali said conditions for participation in the FIFA World Cup do not exist.
“Our children are not safe and, fundamentally, such conditions for participation do not exist. Given the malicious actions they have carried out against Iran, they have forced two wars on us over eight or nine months and have killed and martyred thousands of our people. Therefore, we certainly cannot have such a presence,” Donyamali said, according to Al Jazeera report, citing Reuters.
All of Iran’s group-stage fixtures are in American cities, including Los Angeles and Seattle.
Donyamali’s statement comes after FIFA President Gianni Infantino, in his Instagram post on Wednesday, said that Iran’s participation in the World Cup would be welcomed by US President Donald Trump.
“President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States,” Gianni Infantino said in the social media post.
Mehdi Taj, president of the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI), had also said earlier that Iran cannot be expected to look forward to the 2026 FIFA World Cup with optimism after the recent attacks, questioning why any country would send its national team to such a situation.
“After this attack [on Iran], we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope. If the World Cup is like this, who in their right mind would send their national team to a place like this?” Taj said on Iranian state television. (ANI)
