{"id":4450,"date":"2025-12-05T14:50:52","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T14:50:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=4450"},"modified":"2025-12-05T14:50:52","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T14:50:52","slug":"iranian-delegation-in-the-us-for-world-cup-draw-after-threatening-boycott-world-cup-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=4450","title":{"rendered":"Iranian delegation in the US for World Cup draw after threatening boycott | World Cup News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Head coach Ghalenoei is part of the delegation attending the draw despite saying they would boycott it over visa issues.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 5 Dec 2025<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">5 Dec 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Iranian football team\u2019s head coach Ardeshir Amir Ghalenoei has arrived in Washington, DC, with a delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran Football Federation, before the draw for the FIFA World Cup 2026.<\/p>\n<p>FIFA confirmed the delegation\u2019s presence in the United States capital on Friday, as preparations continue for the expanded 48-team tournament next summer, which will be hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico.<\/p>\n<p>Iran initially said they would boycott the ceremony in the US capital over visa issues.<\/p>\n<p>While Iran had applied for nine visas for their delegation, Iranian football federation (FFIRI) spokesman Amir Mehdi Alavi was quoted as saying the US had granted four visas, including coach Ghalenoei.<\/p>\n<p>Mehdi Taj, president of the FFIRI, was not granted a visa and denounced the decision as being a political one.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have informed FIFA that the decisions taken have nothing to do with sports, and the members of the Iranian delegation will not participate in the World Cup draw,\u201d he told state television last week.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have told the head of FIFA, Mr [Gianni] Infantino, that it is purely a political position and that FIFA must tell them [US] to desist from this behaviour,\u201d added Taj.<\/p>\n<p>The US has longstanding strict visa restrictions on Iranians for political and security reasons.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFIFA has welcomed the arrival of the Islamic Republic of Iran Football Federation delegation to Washington, DC, including head coach Ardeshir Ghalenoei, to attend the FIFA World Cup 2026 Final Draw and the team seminar,\u201d the global body said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFIFA looks forward to continuing to work with the Federation and the host country authorities to ensure preparations for their participation at the FIFA World Cup 2026 next summer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Iran secured qualification earlier this year through the Asian qualifiers and will discover their group-stage opponents at the draw later on Friday at the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.<\/p>\n<p>The US and Iran have been at loggerheads for more than four decades.<\/p>\n<p>They had, though, been holding high-level nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington that had begun in April, during which the two sides were at odds over Iran\u2019s right to enrich uranium \u2013 a right that Tehran defends as \u201cinalienable\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>However, they ended when, in mid-June, Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran, triggering a 12-day war that the US briefly joined, with strikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Head coach Ghalenoei is part of the delegation attending the draw despite saying they would boycott it over visa issues. Published On 5 Dec 20255 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Iranian football team\u2019s head coach Ardeshir Amir Ghalenoei has arrived in Washington, DC, with a delegation of the Islamic [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4451,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4450\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}