{"id":18835,"date":"2026-06-19T18:19:38","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T13:19:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/?p=18835"},"modified":"2026-06-19T18:19:38","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T13:19:38","slug":"iran-to-lodge-complaint-with-fifa-o","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/2026\/06\/19\/iran-to-lodge-complaint-with-fifa-o\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran to lodge complaint with FIFA over World Cup restrictions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Iran to lodge complaint with FIFA over World Cup restrictions\u00a0 <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Iran\u2019s football federation has announced plans to file an official complaint with FIFA<\/a>, claiming that its World Cup preparations in North America have been disrupted by travel restrictions and logistical limitations.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dispute over travel to Los Angeles<\/strong><\/p>\n

The federation says the team had arranged to travel from its training base in Tijuana, Mexico, to Los Angeles two days before their upcoming World Cup match against Belgium, scheduled for Sunday at midday local time.<\/p>\n

According to Iranian officials, this plan was designed to give players enough time to adapt to local conditions, complete training sessions, and fully prepare for the match. However, they claim the request was rejected by tournament organizers.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the federation said that despite submitting a full preparation schedule well in advance, Iran has repeatedly faced restrictions that have interfered with the technical staff\u2019s planning.<\/p>\n

The spokesperson added that the refusal came even though the request was based on sporting and technical reasons, and confirmed that Iran will escalate the matter to FIFA through official complaint procedures.<\/p>\n

Earlier concerns during the tournament<\/strong><\/p>\n

Iran has also expressed dissatisfaction with earlier logistical arrangements, particularly after being required to leave Los Angeles on the same night following their opening World Cup match, a 2\u20132 draw against New Zealand. Officials say this limited recovery time and added unnecessary pressure on the squad.<\/p>\n

Response from U.S. officials<\/strong><\/p>\n

The United States administration has rejected Iran\u2019s claims of unfair treatment, stating that all teams were informed in advance about travel and entry rules.<\/p>\n

Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House FIFA Task Force, said Iran was told it would only be allowed to enter the United States one day before each match. He explained that teams are permitted to arrive on \u201cmatch day minus one\u201d and must leave the same evening after the game.<\/p>\n

He added that the same procedure would apply for Iran\u2019s final group-stage match against Egypt in Seattle on June 26.<\/p>\n

Visa and preparation challenges<\/strong><\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s World Cup buildup has also been affected by wider regional tensions in the Middle East. The team relocated its training base from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana shortly before the tournament began.<\/p>\n

Officials also claim that several members of the delegation were denied visas to enter the United States, further complicating their preparations.<\/p>\n

The situation highlights a growing dispute between Iran\u2019s football authorities and World Cup organizers over travel and preparation rules. While Iran argues that restrictions are harming their performance planning, U.S. officials insist the regulations are standard and were clearly communicated in advance. The matter is now expected to be reviewed by FIFA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Iran to lodge complaint with FIFA over World Cup restrictions\u00a0 Iran\u2019s football federation has announced plans to file an official complaint with FIFA, claiming that its World Cup preparations in North America have been disrupted by travel restrictions and logistical limitations. Dispute over travel to Los Angeles The federation says the team had arranged to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":18836,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2297,2305],"tags":[3564,3884],"class_list":["post-18835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-sports","tag-fifa-world-cup-2026","tag-irans-football-federation"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18835"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18838,"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18835\/revisions\/18838"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newspulse.com.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}