Soccer-Iran to lodge FIFA complaint over World Cup travel restrictions

Iran plans to file a complaint with FIFA over travel restrictions imposed by the US, which are forcing the team to commute from Mexico for their World Cup group games.

Iran plans to lodge a complaint with football's world governing body FIFA over travel restrictions its team is facing in the ‌U.S. at the World Cup. Due to uncertainty over visas and the conflict with the U.S., the Iranian team are commuting from their tournament base in co-host Mexico for their three group games in the U.S. U.S. authorities require them to enter within ‌24 hours of a match and leave the same day, leading team coach Amir Ghalenoei to say Iran were the "most ‌oppressed" team in the tournament. "The Football Federation of Iran believes these restrictions are inconsistent with the principles of providing equal conditions for participating teams and may affect their technical preparation," the federation said in a statement on Friday announcing its protest to FIFA. FIFA did not immediately respond to ⁠Reuters requests ​for comment. Ghalenoei said the ⁠disruption had prejudiced Iran in Monday's 2-2 draw with New Zealand.

"Under the coaching staff's plan, the national team needed to travel to the host city ⁠two days before each match in order to achieve optimal technical and physical condition, and then return to their base the day after ​the match," the federation said. "However, for the opening match against New Zealand, this request was not approved."

The U.S. Department ⁠of Homeland Security said the measures were safety precautions agreed with Iran, who face Belgium on June 21 in Los Angeles and will conclude their ⁠Group ​G fixtures against Egypt on June 27 in Seattle. "The team will be allowed to come in match day minus one, so the day before the match. They'll be asked to leave the day that the match wraps up, so the ⁠evening of the match," a department spokesperson said in response to an email query from Reuters.

"Again, the President wants to ⁠make sure that we're talking ⁠about what actually happens on the pitch. A lot of that is making sure that things are safe and secure, not just around the stadiums, but around base camps and training ‌sites."