Iran Football Officials Say Team Cannot Participate in World Cup; FIFA Cites Trump Assurance

Ahmad Donyamali, speaking on Iranian state television in reference to the killing of Ali Khamenei, former Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, in US-Israeli strikes, said: "Under no circumstances can we participate in the World Cup." Referring to the national football team players, he declared: "Our children are not safe and fundamentally, there are no conditions for participation in these competitions." Mehdi Taj, head of Iran's Football Federation, on Tuesday referenced the asylum-seeking of several Iranian women's national team players in Australia and said a "similar scenario" might be carried out for the men's football team at the World Cup. He added: "No reasonable person would accept that Iran's national football team be sent to the United States." FIFA President Gianni Infantino, citing Donald Trump, said that despite the war in the Middle East, Iran's football team can still participate in the World Cup in North America. Infantino wrote on Instagram that he had met with the US President about the upcoming World Cup. Infantino said: "President Trump emphasized in this conversation that it is clear that the Iranian team can participate in the matches in the United States."