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<\/p>\nIran’s football federation (FFIRI) says its ticket allocation for the FIFA World Cup has been pulled just days before the tournament kicks off.<\/p>\n
The FFIRI said the 8 per cent quota of tickets allocated to Iran had been revoked, meaning “there is no possibility to distribute tickets to fans through the Federation”, multiple Iranian news agencies said.<\/p>\n
“This is despite the fact that many Iranian football fans, relying on the officially announced process, had already made the necessary plans to attend the matches,” the FFIRI added in a statement.<\/p>\n
“There is no possibility of providing even a single ticket to the national team fans through the Federation,” Fars reported, citing the Iranian football federation.<\/p>\n
“This development raises serious questions about the interference of non-sporting and political considerations in the organisation of the world’s biggest football event.”<\/p>\n
Each participating federation at the World Cup receives 8 per cent of the tickets for each of its matches for allocation to fans according to its own criteria.<\/p>\n
Iran’s team arrived in Tijuana, Mexico, early on Sunday, ahead of its three matches scheduled in the US.<\/p>\n
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Iran’s football team arrived in Tijuana on Sunday. (Reuters: Victor Medina)<\/p>\n
Coach Amir Ghalenoei told FIFA that the team ideally would have arrived in Tijuana last week to adapt to the time difference.<\/p>\n
“Normally, in tournaments like this, humanitarian and ethical considerations should come before technical matters, and I believe those considerations were not extended to us,” he said after arriving at Tijuana airport.<\/p>\n
Iranian defender Ehsan Hajsafi said the team had suffered “very difficult circumstances”.<\/p>\n
The withdrawal of the ticket allocation comes after the US awarded visas to all the Iranian players on Friday.<\/p>\n
For months, the Iranian team had issues getting their visas approved, which happened 10 days before their first match.<\/p>\n
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Several members of the Iranian squad were not given visas, including “key managerial and administrative members”, according to Iran’s football federation.<\/p>\n
Iran’s ambassador in Mexico, Abolfazl Pasandideh, said 15 of the 70 members of the party who arrived in Tijuana on Sunday had not been given visas to enter the US.<\/p>\n
FIFA did not respond to a request for comment about the dispute.<\/p>\n
An official with the US State Department said the Trump administration had issued “the visas necessary for Iran to compete in the World Cup, including for athletes and necessary support staff”.<\/p>\n
The official added: “We will not allow the Iranian team to abuse this system to sneak terrorists into the U.S. under false pretences.”<\/p>\n
Somali referee denied entry<\/p>\n
FIFA announced on Tuesday that the United States had also denied entry to referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan, who was expected to be the first Somali to officiate a World Cup match.<\/p>\n
Somalia’s government said it had unsuccessfully tried to negotiate Mr Artan’s entry with the US and FIFA, and it was saddened by what had happened.<\/p>\n