The head of Iran’s FA (FFIRI) Mehdi Taj says Fifa must ensure that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is not insulted by the United States if the national team travels to the country to play the World Cup in June.
FFIRI members, including Taj, returned from the Canadian border last week because of what they said were disrespectful treatment by immigration officials while trying to attend the Fifa Congress in Vancouver.
Taj said the decision to return home was their own choice but Canada’s immigration minister later confirmed to Parliament that the FFIRI president’s visa was revoked while in flight because of his ties to the IRGC.
Canada listed the IRGC, an elite force whose purpose is to protect Iran’s Shiite Islamic clerical regime, as a “terrorist entity” in 2024, five years after the US did the same.
Fifa secretary general Mattias Grafstrom sent a letter expressing his regret for the “discomfort and disappointment” of Iranians in Canada and invited FFIRI Zurich on May 20 for a meeting on their preparations for the World Cup.
Taj told state broadcaster IRIB on Tuesday that he would be seeking assurances from the governing body about the treatment of the Iranian delegation in the United States.
