Italy’s repechage to World Cup: Mexico speaks out on'Iran

Just over two months before the start of the World Cup, the debate rages over Iran’s participation in the World Cup. The Middle Eastern country, which is at war with the United States, has begun talks with FIFA to explore the possibility of moving its scheduled matches to Los Angeles (against New Zealand on June 15 and Belgium on June 21) and Seattle (against Egypt on June 26).

A request that has not found an opening at the moment from FIFA, which has reiterated that the tournament schedule remains unchanged, at least for the time being. One piece of news, however, has come from Mexico, the country indicated by Iran to host the matches.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her country would be ready to host Iran’s matches, although the decision will depend solely on FIFA’s logistics: “Mexico has diplomatic relations with all countries in the world, so we will wait to see what FIFA decides. The matter is under consideration and we will provide updates in due course,” he explained.

The president of the Iranian Football Federation Taj expressed himself on the issue on social media as follows, “Since Donald Trump has explicitly stated that he cannot guarantee the safety of the Iranian national team, we will certainly not go to the United States. We are currently negotiating with FIFA to arrange for Iran’s matches at the World Cup to be held in Mexico.”

In the event of Iran’s forfeit, FIFA will choose the selection to replace the Asian country at its discretion. According to many, the United Arab Emirates, part of the same confederation, would be the favorite to take the Iranians’ place. But the name of Italy, the best-ranked selection among the countries that were left out of the World Cup, has also been mentioned.

About this possibility, Sports Minister Abodi put it this way, “I don’t think so and I don’t even hope so.”