Iran’s World Cup bound players have been granted visas to enter the United States, just 10 days before their first match in Los Angeles amid a conflict between the two countries, a White House official told Reuters on Friday.
Iran’s ambassador to Mexico, Abolfazl Pasandideh, said on Thursday night that the national football team had still not received visas to enter the United States. However, a White House official later confirmed that the visas were granted overnight.
According to Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency, visas for some members of the team’s coaching and administrative staff are still pending.
“Visas for some members of the national team’s technical and executive staff have not yet been issued, and the US embassy has so far refused to grant them,” the report said, without naming a source.
The ongoing conflict between Iran and the United States has added a political dimension to the World Cup, with both countries using the tournament as a platform for broader diplomatic messaging.
This will be the first World Cup in history where a host nation is set to welcome a country with which it is currently at war.
Because of the visa delays and growing sentiment in Iran that the team should spend as little time as possible in the United States, Tehran arranged a last-minute change to the squad’s base camp from Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico. The team is expected to arrive in Tijuana early on Sunday.
Iran will begin its Group G campaign against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15. They will then face Belgium in the same city before taking on Egypt in Seattle.
