Iran’s World Cup squad submits passports to US embassy in Turkey amid visa uncertainty

Iran’s FIFA World Cup squad members have submitted their passports to the US embassy in Turkey in a bid to acquire visas to participate in the showpiece event starting June 11. Mehdi Taj, the head of their football federation, said on Friday (Jun 5) that the team was following instructions from FIFA. However, their quest for the visas comes as they and one of the co-hosts of the 48-team tournament, the US, remain locked in negotiations to end the Middle East war that began in February this year.

"Yesterday, I had discussions with FIFA regarding the US visas," Taj said. "We were told to submit all passports to the US embassy in Ankara."

Meanwhile, Iran’s World Cup squad was due to fly from Turkey to Spain on Saturday (Jun 6) before leaving for their base camp in Mexico, which has already issued visas to the squad.

"We are waiting to see what happens today or, at the latest, tomorrow, because our national team needs to receive these passports and travel with them to Tijuana," said Taj.

Taj said the Iranian Football Federation had "raised certain points and requests, in such a way that FIFA was told that if they (the Americans) do not issue visas for the players, some members of our technical staff, and other sections of our delegation, we may make other decisions."

"My assessment is that all visas will be issued in full, and there most likely will not be any problem in this regard," he added.

The Iranians relocated their World Cup base, which initially was planned to be in Tucson, Arizona, to the northwestern Mexican border city of Tijuana.

All three of their group matches are in the United States. They open with two games in Los Angeles, against New Zealand on 15 June and Belgium on 21 June, and play Egypt on June 27 in Seattle.

(With inputs from AFP)