US denies visas to 14 members of Iran's World Cup squad

US denies visas to 14 members of Iran's World Cup squad

The United States has approved visas for Iranian national football team players to participate in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but has refused to grant visas to several staff members travelling with the team, the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) has alleged. The federation claims the US has denied visas to "several key managers and administrative officials" of Iran's World Cup team.

According to Iranian state television, 14 officials and staff members of the Iranian team, including FFIRI Secretary General Hedayat Mombeyni and Vice President Mehdi Mohammad Nabi, were denied US visas. It remains unclear whether federation president Mehdi Taj has received a visa.

Iran's football chief Mehdi Taj was associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) before joining the football federation. The US Secretary of State had announced that anyone affiliated with the IRGC would not be permitted to enter the United States.

FIFA initially allocated a base camp for Iran in Arizona, but later moved it to Mexico at the team's request. Iran held a training camp in Turkey on May 18 and applied for Mexican and US visas from there.

Iran's Tasnim news agency reported that the officials denied visas by the US will travel with the team to Mexico, where they will continue efforts to obtain visas. The Iranian team left Turkey for Mexico on Saturday.

In a statement on the federation's website, the decision to deny visas to some team members has "effectively deprived the Iranian national team of a non-discriminatory and equal opportunity competition."

Meanwhile, the US ambassador in Ankara, Tom Barak, posted on social media congratulating his embassy staff for processing the Iranian team's visas. The Iranian embassy in Ankara responded in a counter-post stating that self-praise cannot cover up a behaviour that violates FIFA rules and undermines the host country's obligations, calling it the worst example of politically biased interference in sports.

A US official told ABC News on Friday that visas for all Iranian football players had been approved. However, a US official indicated to AP that some applicants associated with the Iranian team had their visa applications cancelled for "filing under false pretexts."