Iran’s football federation is in talks with FIFA to move its World Cup matches from the United States to Mexico, citing security concerns for its players, federation president Mehdi Taj said.
The move follows comments by US President Donald Trump, who said Iran would be welcome at the tournament but suggested it might not be appropriate for them to play in the United States “for their own life and safety”.
“When Trump has explicitly stated that he cannot ensure the security of the Iranian national team, we will certainly not travel to America,” Taj said in a post shared via the Iranian embassy in Mexico’s X account.
“We are negotiating with FIFA to hold Iran’s World Cup matches in Mexico.”
FIFA has yet to respond publicly to the proposal.
The development adds to uncertainty over Iran’s participation in the tournament, which is set to kick off on June 11 across the United States, Canada and Mexico. Iran are scheduled to play two group matches in Los Angeles and one in Seattle.
Iran’s sports minister had earlier said it would be impossible for the team to participate following US and Israeli airstrikes on Tehran that killed the country’s supreme leader.
Any formal withdrawal would mark the first of its kind in the modern era and leave FIFA scrambling to find a replacement team.
However, the Asian Football Confederation said it had not received any official notification of Iran’s withdrawal.
“At the end of the day, it’s the federation who should decide if they’re playing, and as of today, the federation has told us that they are going to the World Cup,” AFC General Secretary Windsor John said.
Meanwhile, New Zealand are continuing preparations for their opening match against Iran but say they are ready to adjust if circumstances change.
“Right now we’re still continuing as though we’re playing Iran,” coach Darren Bazeley said.
“They’re the team that qualified and we got drawn against them. That’s still the fixture and until we get told otherwise, we’ll continue with that preparation.
“Obviously, if things change, then we’ll deal with that, but that would be (people at) a higher level than myself involved in those discussions.”
New Zealand Football chief Andrew Pragnell said there had been no indication from FIFA of heightened threats or plans to relocate matches.
“I doubt that FIFA would change locations of fixtures. It’s probably not something that they would look to do,” he said.
FIFA has not commented on the possibility of shifting Iran’s fixtures, which remain scheduled to take place in the United States.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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