Iran soccer body claims fans’ tickets for World Cup games in the U.S. have been revoked

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TIJUANA, Mexico — FIFA has revoked the ticket allocation for Iran fans at the team’s three World Cup games in the United States, the national soccer federation claimed Tuesday.

Each federation for the 48 teams taking part is entitled to receive and distribute 8 per cent of stadium capacity for each of its games at the World Cup, adding up to several thousands of tickets.

Just days before Iran opens its World Cup — on June 15 at the 70,000-seat Los Angeles Rams’ stadium in Inglewood against New Zealand — the federation claimed in a statement reported by semi-official state media that it was now unable to provide any tickets to its supporters.

The claim adds to the turmoil between Iranian soccer, FIFA and tournament co-host the U.S., which began military attacks on Iran on Feb. 28.

FIFA has total authority over ticketing operations at the World Cup, yet the Iranian soccer body suggested “the United States has now taken steps to obstruct the presence of Iranian supporters at the stadiums.”

“This incident raises serious questions about the influence of non-sporting and political considerations on the organization of the world’s biggest football event,” the Iranian soccer federation said.

FIFA was approached for comment.

Iran’s bumpy ride to World Cup

Iran’s team is now based in the Mexican border city of Tijuana instead of its pre-war plan to train in Tucson, Arizona. It is the team’s seventh appearance at a men’s World Cup.

Some federation officials also have been denied visas to enter the U.S., where Iran also plays Belgium in Inglewood on June 21 and then Egypt in Seattle on June 26.

Federations of World Cup teams typically sell their ticket allocation to the most loyal fans who attend games at home and away.

“However, in an unexpected move, the allocation granted to Iran’s football federation has been withdrawn, and under the current circumstances the federation is unable to offer even a single ticket to national team supporters,” the federation said.

Iran residents were subject to a travel ban by the U.S. government since last year and were unlikely to get entry visas for the World Cup. It was unclear how many tickets in Iran’s allocation were sold since the tournament draw was made in December to the country’s diaspora including in the U.S.

If Iranian tickets have been revoked, FIFA would have just days to sell about 5,600 tickets for the Iran-New Zealand game on Monday. The FIFA sales site on Tuesday showed rows of field-level seats available at US$450 each though numbered in dozens rather than hundreds.

Still, FIFA president Gianni Infantino stated in 2017 — when U.S. soccer officials were preparing a co-hosting bid with Canada and Mexico they won the following year — that fans must have access to the tournament.

“It’s obvious when it comes to FIFA competitions as well (that) any team, including the supporters and the officials of that team, who would qualify for a World Cup need to have access to the country, otherwise there is no World Cup,” Infantino said nine years ago. “That is obvious.”

Hostile welcomes

U.S. policy toward World Cup visitors is becoming a strong theme before the games begin on Thursday.

A FIFA-appointed match referee from Somalia was denied entry to the U.S. in Miami at the weekend and on Monday he was cut from the 104-game tournament that starts in Mexico City.

An Iraq player was detained for several hours on arriving in Chicago and a photographer travelling with the delegation was denied entry.

“The disruption is such that one has to ask who is running the World Cup. Is it FIFA or is it the U.S. government with its racially charged immigration policies?” Piara Powar, the head of FIFA’s anti-discrimination monitoring partner, said on Tuesday in a statement.

“Before a ball has been kicked,” said Powar, executive director of the Fare Network, “the sense that this World Cup is anything but the celebration of global humanity a World Cup should be is beginning to take over.”

The Associated Press