Italy’s World Cup repechage: Iran stays out, Canada explains why

FIFA President Gianni Infantino reiterated during the FIFA congress in Vancouver that Iran will participate in the next World Cup scheduled to be held in Canada, the United States and Iran, but paradoxically no representative from Tehran could hear him. In fact, the leaders of the Iranian federation were excluded and turned away at the Toronto airport from Canada, and conspicuously complained, speaking of “unacceptable behavior” on the part of Canadian immigration authorities, despite traveling on valid visas.

Reuters reports that two members of the delegation could have attended the FIFA congress, but chose not to do so after one of them was denied entry into Canada. President Taj is a former member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, and Canadian authorities have said that entry decisions are made on a case-by-case basis and that people linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps are not allowed into the country.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney clarifies the situation: “I can provide the following reassurances and facts. First, as you know, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and all their members have been listed as terrorist organizations for several years now. Their members are banned from entering. We carry out a series of checks and take action. No members have entered the country. Appropriate measures have been taken.”

The incident casts further shadows on Iran’s participation in the World Cup. Outside the FIFA Congress, some 30 protesters, wrapped in Iranian flags and holding placards, gathered to express their desire for regime change in Iran, chanting choruses in support of Reza Pahlavi, son of the former Shah and an Iranian opposition figure. “The Revolutionary Guards are terrorists,” they shouted. “FIFA, no agreement with terrorists.”

In this climate, the odds of Italy’s possible participation in the World Cup plummeted, despite Infantino’s words.