Tickets for Iran fans revoked, says federation
Summary
Iran’s football federation says the country’s fan ticket allocation for the World Cup group stage has been canceled just before the tournament starts. This change means Iranian fans who bought tickets and made travel plans may no longer be able to attend their team’s matches in the United States.Key Facts
- Iran is competing in the World Cup, which is co-hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
- Iran’s group stage matches are on 15 June (vs New Zealand), 21 June (vs Belgium), and 26 June (vs Egypt), all in U.S. cities.
- FIFA usually gives each team 8% of the tickets for their matches to sell to fans.
- Iran’s football federation began selling tickets but now cannot provide them to fans because the allocation was revoked.
- The federation stated this ticket cancellation breaks FIFA rules and harms fairness and equality between teams.
- Iran’s World Cup preparations have faced problems, including moving their training camp from the U.S. to Mexico due to visa and security concerns.
- Several team officials were denied U.S. visas, and issues exist around players linked to Iran’s military group, the IRGC, which may affect entry to the tournament.
- Iran’s football officials were barred from attending a FIFA meeting in Canada earlier in the year.
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