Tehran – Iran’s national football team is in full preparation for its participation in the World Cup, which will be held in the United States, Canada, and Mexico this summer. According to Mahdi Taj, president of the Iranian Football Federation, the team will hold a training camp in Turkey and play two friendly matches. “We are preparing to participate in the World Cup. We boycott the United States, but we do not boycott the World Cup,” Taj affirmed, according to statements collected by the Mehr news agency. Iran’s participation in the tournament was in doubt due to the war conflict in the Middle East and the military intervention of the United States and Israel. Following the death of the Iranian supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, the Tehran regime considered the possibility of not participating in the championship, given that the United States is one of the organizing countries. However, Iranian authorities are negotiating for their national team’s group G matches to be played in Mexico, instead of in the US cities where they were scheduled to face New Zealand (June 15), Belgium (June 21), both in Los Angeles, and Egypt (June 26), in Seattle. Taj, without specifying the opponents of the friendlies, made these statements during the welcoming ceremony for the women’s national team at the Bazargan border, in northwestern Iran. The women’s team returned after their participation in the Asian Cup in Australia, where several players requested asylum.
The members of the soccer team “gave a great response to the enemies.” “Today the women returned proudly to the homeland,” he added.
Mahdi Taj, President of the Football Federation of Iran
