Iran vows to boycott US World Cup draw over rejected visas
Iran's football authorities said on Tuesday they would boycott a draw for the US-hosted 2026 World Cup in Washington DC next week after visas for two top officials were rejected.
Iran's football authorities said on Tuesday they would boycott a draw for the US-hosted 2026 World Cup in Washington DC next week after visas for two top officials were rejected.
Visa requests sent to the US Embassy in Dubai for Iran Football Federation president Mehdi Taj and national team executive director Mehdi Kharati were rejected in October, state media reported.
Tehran-based sports outlet Varzesh 3 reported on Tuesday that at least four other officials who had submitted their petition in the same group request had had their visas approved, including head coach Amir Ghalenoei.
But Iran Football Federation spokesperson Amir Mahdi Alavi said that the country would shun the ceremony if its whole delegation was not cleared to attend.
FIFA and the US State Department did not immediately respond to Iran International requests for comment.
The draw for the 2026 World Cup is scheduled for December 5.
Iran's Tasnim news agency had reported in October that Taj, Ghalenoei and seven other officials were denied US visas to attend the ceremony. Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said his ministry was following up on the matter.
Varzesh 3 added that Taj, who serves on FIFA’s Executive Committee, is likely to obtain a visa through FIFA via a separate channel.
US President Donald Trump has presented the World Cup as a "once in a lifetime opportunity" to showcase what he has described as an American golden age under his leadership.
The Trump administration last Monday introduced a new expedited visa process for the millions of visitors expected to travel to the United States for the 2026 World Cup, while noting that even those with match tickets could still be refused entry.
The system, announced at the White House and designed to prioritize visa appointments for FIFA ticket-holders, will move applicants with confirmed seats to the front of the interview queue. Still, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressed that faster processing does not guarantee admission to the country.
Football fandom is endemic in Iran despite only lukewarm endorsement by the ruling Islamic theocracy and its team regularly qualifies for the World Cup.
