FIFA face the prospect of having to find a team for the World Cup with Iran outlining their position to boycott the tournament given their conflict with the USA
Iran have qualified for the World Cup, but have no intention of participating(Image: ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)
FIFA could be facing a race against time to find a replacement for Iran – after the nation claimed “under no circumstances can we participate in the World Cup” following the US-Israeli airstrikes on their country.
The tournament in North America is predominantly being played in the USA, and their political decisions have caused ripples for the footballing world. The conflict killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and destroyed parts of the Iranian capital, Tehran.
Iran’s sports minister has laid out the nation’s plans to bypass the World Cup, meaning FIFA need to find a new country to go into a group with Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand. Iran had qualified top of their section in the Asian qualification system, but world football’s bosses have several options available to them.
The FIFA rulebook states a replacement will come from: “A nominated alternate, often the direct runner-up from the relevant qualifying playoff or highest-ranked non-qualified team from that confederation.”
One solution would be to fast-track the UAE into the competition proper, given they finished behind Iran in qualification. However, they lost to Iraq during the Asian confederation’s match that decided the intercontinental play-off, which is set to take place in a few weeks.
READ MORE: World Cup crisis deepens as row over England venue continuesREAD MORE: Iran punishments for World Cup withdrawal and can FIFA replace them with another nation?
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Iraq will play the winner of Bolivia and Suriname for a spot at the World Cup, which has actually complicated the saga. There is talk of FIFA handing Iraq an automatic spot in the tournament as Iran’s replacement – leaving the UAE to instead feature in the intercontinental play-off.
A unlikely workaround for FIFA would be to play a World Cup group with just three teams, leaving Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand to play against each other. The expanded tournament does mean that the best performing third-placed side will advance into the knockouts – but having a group with only three teams complicates that scenario.
FIFA boss Gianni Infantino has received assurances from Donald Trump that Iran are still welcome – but the likelihood is he will need to find another nation(Image: Emilee Chinn – FIFA, FIFA via Getty Images)
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has met with US President Donald Trump and claimed he received assurances that Iran are welcome at the tournament despite the conflict in the Middle East.
He said: “During the discussions, President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States.”
Iran’s sports minister, Ahmad Donyamali, has made their stance crystal clear as he fired a shot at the current US office. He said during a television interview: “Considering that this corrupt regime [the US] has assassinated our leader, under no circumstances can we participate in the World Cup. In view of the malicious measures taken against Iran, two wars were forced upon us within eight or nine months, and several thousand of our people were killed. Our children are not safe and, fundamentally, such conditions for participation do not exist.”
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