Iran To Escalate Travel Restrictions Imposed By USA, To Lodge Official Complaint With FIFA Ahead Of Belgium Encounter

Iran to lodge a strong protest with FIFA against the travel restrictions imposed on them by the USA. Iran Football Team are permitted to enter the United States on the day before their FIFA World Cup match and they are required to leave on the same day after their match is finished.

Iran To Lodge Protest With FIFA Against USA

Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei expressed his dissatisfaction after Iran was ordered to leave the country right after their World Cup opener against New Zealand. Earlier, Iran captain Mehdi Taremi also pointed out that they endured a travel ordeal while coming to the USA from Mexico and went through rigorous security and other processes, which was supposed to be a very normal and short trip.

Iran Football Association issued a statement confirming their intent to lodge an official complaint with FIFA. In a statement, FFIRI stated that the "inconsistent with the principle of providing equal conditions for all participating teams and may negatively affect teams' preparation processes".

They also said, "Consequently, the federation will formally express its dissatisfaction and lodge an official complaint with FIFA through the appropriate channels."

Iran's first two matches are being played in Los Angeles, while the last match will be staged in Seattle.

USA Refutes Iran's Allegations

Iran also complained that the chief of the Iran football federation and a few other members of the Iran delegation have been denied visas for the FIFA World Cup. Things took an ugly turn after the U.S. and Israel began a war against Iran on February 28.

Andrew Giuliani, the executive director of the White House FIFA Task Force, maintains the stance that Iran was aware of the process from day one. He told the Associated Press, “We were clear this was the process."

Later in an interaction with CBS News, he said, “The team will be allowed to come in, match day minus one, so the day before the match. They’ll be asked to leave the day that the match wraps up, so the evening of the match. And they’ll be able to do that again in Los Angeles. They’ll be able to do it again in Seattle."

Iran are scheduled to face Belgium on Sunday as per local time.

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