Iran captain calls World Cup a ‘disaster’ after final group stage match

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The captain of the Iranian men’s national football ripped FIFA and its president Gianni Infantino on Friday for its experience during the World Cup, as it awaits word on whether its tournament run has come to an end.

“It’s a disaster World Cup,” Mehdi Taremi told reporters after Iran’s final group stage match against Egypt in Seattle, according to The Athletic.

“I mean, FIFA, they have to solve every problem, but unfortunately they could not solve it since the beginning,” he added, referring to the logistical hurdles faced by the team.

Iran was forced to move its training camp from Tucson, Ariz., to Tijuana, Mexico ahead of the tournament after the U.S. reportedly refused to grant visas to more than a dozen members of the team’s support staff.

“We don’t have our logistic people here — they don’t have a visa. How is it possible we always have to travel from Tijuana? We love the people in Tijuana. We love Mexico. They are humble people and we love them but as a professional player in a professional competition, it’s not right,” Taremi said.

The Iranians have also had to leave the U.S. between matches due to what U.S. officials cite as security concerns.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin claimed this week that Iran had “tried to get somebody in” who had direct ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an allegation the country’s soccer federation called an “an outright and undeniable lie.”

Taremi reportedly said that Infantino promised after its first match with New Zealand to improve the situation but has failed to do so.

“It’s not fair,” he remarked. “We always complain about these things but no one helps, no one.”

A FIFA official told The Hill on Thursday that Infantino has been in contact with the Iran Football Federation “to ensure their smooth participation” and insisted its position on Iran “is no different than our position on all other” teams competing in the tournament.

But USA Today reported that Iran’s head coach Amir Ghalenoei criticized what he described as unfair treatment by the U.S. that has impacted his team’s performance on the pitch.

“The host country treated us very unfairly,” Ghalenoei said on Friday. “We wanted to arrive two days early, have time for recovery. We would’ve been in better shape physically and mentally, but they deprived us of that justice.”

Iran is waiting to see whether it will advance to the 32-team knockout stage after finishing third in Group G following its 1-1 draw with Egypt. The team also drew with New Zealand and Belgium in its first two matches.

The eight best third-place teams are guaranteed a spot in the next round, meaning Iran’s fate rests on the results of Saturday’s final group stage matches.

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