Amir Mahdi Alavi, spokesperson for the Iranian Football Federation, revealed that US authorities refused to grant visas to the federation’s delegation scheduled to travel to Washington to attend the 2026 World Cup draw.

Alavi explained, in statements reported by the Iranian newspaper Shargh, that the ban decision included the federation president Mehdi Taj, national coach Amir Ghalenoei, along with seven other officials, putting the Iranian delegation’s participation in the draw ceremony under serious threat.

The official spokesperson indicated that the Iranian federation is seeking to communicate with FIFA President Gianni Infantino, hoping for his intervention to cancel the US decision within the next two weeks, as the draw ceremony is expected to take place on December 5 in the US capital, Washington.

This crisis comes amid ongoing political tensions between Washington and Tehran, especially after US sanctions imposed on Iran due to its nuclear file, alongside the absence of diplomatic relations between the two countries for more than 45 years.

There were previous concerns about the impact of US ban decisions on the Iranian national team’s participation in the World Cup, but sports experts ruled out effects on players and technical staff, considering that obstacles may be limited to federation officials, journalists, and fans wishing to attend, which pushes the Iranian federation to demand holding its team’s matches on Canadian or Mexican soil.

It is noteworthy that about two million Iranians live in the United States, and this decision is expected to create a new sports diplomatic crisis if no solution is reached before the global event begins.