United States President Donald Trump has said Iran would be “welcome” to take part in the upcoming men’s World Cup in North America despite the ongoing Middle East war, according to FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
The conflict, sparked by US-Israeli strikes on February 28, has raised uncertainty about Iran’s participation in the global football tournament scheduled to take place across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Infantino, who heads football’s global governing body FIFA, disclosed on Instagram that the situation in Iran was discussed during a meeting on preparations for the tournament.
“During the discussions, President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States,” Infantino wrote.
The remarks are the first time Infantino has publicly acknowledged the conflict in the Middle East since it escalated.
However, Iran’s football federation chief Mehdi Taj on Tuesday questioned whether the country should participate in the competition, especially after several members of Iran’s women’s national team defected during the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in Australia.
“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.
Although the World Cup matches will be spread across three host nations, Iran are scheduled to play all three of their group-stage games in the United States — two in Los Angeles and one in Seattle.
The situation became more complicated earlier this week when several Iranian women footballers sought asylum in Australia. Five players — including team captain Zahra Ghanbari — reportedly left their team hotel at night to request protection from Australian authorities.
Local reports also indicate that at least two more players later applied to remain in the country. Some of the athletes had earlier been labelled “wartime traitors” by Iranian state television after staying silent during the national anthem ahead of their opening match against South Korea.
Although the players later sang the anthem in subsequent games, Iran went on to lose their remaining matches and were eliminated from the tournament after a defeat to the Philippines on Sunday.
