Iran faces visa restrictions for 2026 World Cup matches in the United States
via SeneNews1 min read
The Iranian national football team will be required to enter and exit the United States on the same day as their matches during the 2026 World Cup due to visa restrictions. The Iranian Ambassador to Mexico, Abolfazl Pasandideh, highlighted this challenging situation, stating that the team must enter in the morning and depart on the same day. This complicates the organization of their participation in the tournament. Ambassador Pasandideh made these remarks to journalists before the team's arrival at their base camp in Tijuana, northern Mexico.
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This summary was AI-generated from a story originally published by SeneNews.
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The Iranian national football team departed for Mexico on Saturday, where their World Cup base camp is located. This follows a 15-day training camp in Antalya, Turkey. The team is scheduled to arrive in Tijuana, their base for the tournament, after securing visas for the United States, where their first match is set for June 15. However, Iran has reported "discriminatory treatment" due to the US denying visas to several members of its management and technical staff. The Iranian Embassy in Turkey criticized these denials on X, calling them the "highest level of intentional discriminatory treatment." This statement was a response to an earlier announcement by US Ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, who stated that the Iranian team had received their visas. A US administration official confirmed on Saturday that the necessary visas for Iran's participation, including for athletes and essential support staff, had been issued. The official added that the US would not allow the Iranian team to "abuse this system to smuggle terrorists into the United States under false pretenses," without providing further details. According to Iranian state television, 15 administrative and management staff members, including federation president Mehdi Taj, are affected by the visa denials. Amir Mahdi Alavi, spokesperson for the Iranian Football Federation, questioned who would attend pre-match coordination meetings if the team's manager and press officer were absent, stating that a letter had been s