Iran have voiced strong criticism of their treatment in the United States, with head coach Amir Ghalenoei describing his squad as the “most oppressed” at the World Cup.
Tensions between Iran and the United States have overshadowed the team’s build-up to the tournament, forcing them to relocate their training base to Mexico.
Despite the disruption, Iran opened their campaign with a 2-2 draw against New Zealand, backed by a lively and vocal Iranian-American crowd.
Ghalenoei praised the supporters for their backing but suggested that level of support had not been reflected in the handling of the team’s logistics, in comments widely seen as a pointed swipe at US authorities.
“We’ve spent so much time traveling by air,” he said.
“They didn’t even give us time to recover after the match today. They said we had to leave immediately.
“It’s very important for us to have recovery time, and yet we were asked to return to Tijuana. We are really troubled by that.
“We do not know why we are being sent back. I think it’s very strange. It seems like others are doing the planning for us, decisions are made elsewhere. We were supposed to arrive two nights before the match and we were not permitted. We were supposed to stay tonight and return tomorrow lunchtime, but I have no idea why, and they haven’t told us.
“Our team is the most oppressed in the whole World Cup.
“The federation is absent here. Our media isn’t here. Our management team, many of them aren’t here. We used to have part of a coaching staff to help with substitutions, but we didn’t have that. Many in the technical area had to deal with that.”
FIFA was approached for comment on the team’s schedule.
Iran captain Mehdi Taremi described their treatment as a “disaster” and said FIFA President Gianni Infantino had been in the dressing room, offering to “help” the team.
Footage of Infantino published on X shows him telling players, “You are stronger than everything,” and “This is just the beginning,” while adding that the team were “writing history” and that “the whole world is watching you.”
Infantino is also understood to have told the players he would do what he could to ensure more members of the Iranian delegation, who did not receive visas, could travel to the United States for the remainder of their group games.
Taremi added: “We don’t have our president, and no one from staff either, which is very important for us. Our manager, for example, has come here doing the job of the media, and everything is like a disaster for us.”
