Iran moves World Cup camp U.S. to Mexico, clearing path to play
Iran has moved its World Cup training base from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, the president of the country’s soccer federation said Saturday, removing one of the last obstacles to its participation in this summer’s tournament.
Iran is scheduled to open World Cup play against New Zealand on June 15 at SoFi Stadium. They will face Belgium in Inglewood before completing the group stage against Egypt in Seattle six days later. However, after America and Israel began their attacks on the country about four months ago, questions arose about the security of the Iranian team in the USA.
This World Cup will be the first World Cup in which a qualifying team will play in a host country with which it is at war. In March, shortly after the war began, Iranian officials began questioning whether they should travel to the United States for the tournament; Suspicions grew after President Trump said on social media that he did not believe it was appropriate for Iran to come “for their own lives and safety.”
Iranian Football Federation President Mehdi Taj said on Saturday that Iran has requested permission to move its base across the border because the World Cup is shared with Mexico and Canada.
World Cup organizer FIFA did not immediately confirm the move.
“All team base camps of countries participating in the World Cup must be approved [by] Taj said in a statement to the Associated Press: “Fortunately, following the requests we submitted and our meetings with FIFA and World Cup officials in Istanbul, as well as the webinar meeting we held yesterday in Tehran with the esteemed FIFA general secretary, our request to change the team base from the USA to Mexico was accepted.”
The Iranian federation said moving the base camp would resolve potential visa issues as the team will enter the United States via Mexico. Taj said the team “will be able to travel to and from Mexico using Iran Air flights.”
Tijuana is about 50 minutes from LAX by air, which is about 55 minutes faster than Tucson. Iranians are barred from obtaining visas to enter the United States by the US government, but exceptions will be made for athletes, coaches and support staff participating in the World Cup.
