Iran and the USA may not yet be close to a peace deal but FIFA President Gianni Infantino is convinced that the Iranian football team will be travelling to the USA in a couple of months to play in the FIFA World Cup that the US is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico.
Infantino has said that Iran will “for sure” play in the World Cup, despite the war between Iran and the USA since Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a US-Israeli strike in Tehran on February 28.
Iran are scheduled to play two of their group-stage games in California’s Inglewood with their third game to be played in Seattle.
“The Iranian team is coming for sure, yes,” Infantino said at CNBC’s Invest in America Forum. “We hope that by then, of course, the situation will be a peaceful situation. As I said, that would definitely help. But Iran has to come. Of course, they represent their people. They have qualified. The players want to play.”
Infantino actually met the Iranian national team in Turkey’s Antalya two weeks ago.
Talking about how he was impressed watching them play, Infantino said: “I went to see them. They are actually quite a good team as well. And they really want to play and they should play. Sports should be outside of politics now.”
He did admit that separating sports from politics is not always possible.
“OK we don’t live on the moon, we live on planet Earth,” Infantino said. “But you know if there is nobody else that believes in building bridges and in keeping them, you know, intact and together, well we are doing that job.”
Only last month, US president had said that Iran should not participate in the World Cup.
“The Iran national soccer team is welcome to the World Cup, but I really don’t believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety,” the US president said on his Truth Social platform.
(With inputs from AP)
