Iran Demands FIFA Guarantees Amid 2026 World Cup Row
Tensions over Iran’s participation in the 2026 FIFA World Cup have sharpened after the president of the country’s football federation, Mehdi Taj, insisted that FIFA remains the tournament’s true host and demanded guarantees that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps will not face insult during the event.
“Our host is FIFA, not Mr Trump or America,” Taj said in remarks reported by BBC Sport on Wednesday. “We are going to the World Cup, for which we qualified, and our host is FIFA. If they accept hosting us, then they must also accept that they must not insult our military institutions in any way.”
The statement follows an incident last week in which Taj and two other Iranian football officials were denied entry into Canada while attempting to attend the FIFA Congress in Vancouver. Taj told Iranian state broadcaster IRIB that the delegation was detained and interrogated for three hours at Toronto Pearson Airport before deciding to return home. Canada’s immigration minister later confirmed to parliament that Taj’s visa had been cancelled while he was in the air due to his links to the IRGC, which Canada listed as a terrorist entity in 2024. The United States had made a similar designation five years earlier.
FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom subsequently sent a letter expressing regret at the “inconvenience and disappointment” the Iranians experienced and invited the federation to Zurich on May 20 for talks on World Cup preparations.
At the FIFA Congress in Vancouver, FIFA President Gianni Infantino opened his address by affirming Iran’s place in the tournament. “Let me start by the outset, confirming straightaway that of course Iran will be participating at the FIFA World Cup 2026,” Infantino said. “And of course, Iran will play in the United States of America.” Iran remains the only one of FIFA’s 211 member federations that had no representation at the congress.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week that Washington has no objections to Iranian players competing but that individuals with ties to the IRGC would not be admitted. “They cannot bring a large group of IRGC terrorists into our country and pretend they are journalists or sports coaches,” Rubio stated.
Taj, who served as a high ranking IRGC official in Isfahan Province before entering football administration, told IRIB on Tuesday that he would seek firm assurances from FIFA. “We need a guarantee there, for our trip, that they have no right to insult the symbols of our system, especially the IRGC,” he said. “If there is such a guarantee and the responsibility is clearly assumed, then an incident like what happened in Canada will not happen again.”
Iran qualified for the 48 team tournament and was drawn into Group G alongside Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand. The team is scheduled to play New Zealand on June 15 and Belgium on June 21, both in Los Angeles, before facing Egypt in Seattle on June 26. A request by Iran in March to move its matches to Mexico was rejected. The tournament runs from June 11 to July 19 across the United States, Canada and Mexico.