Iran Files Complaint to Fifa Over Travel Restrictions for World Cup

Iran’s World Cup campaign, already tangled in geopolitics, has taken another sharp turn, with the country’s football federation set to lodge an official complaint to Fifa over what it calls unfair and damaging travel restrictions in the United States.

Under the conditions of their US visas, Iran’s players and staff are only allowed to enter the country the day before a match and must leave on the same day the game is played. No extra days to acclimatise. No time to settle, train properly, or recover.

Head coach Amir Ghalenoei did not hold back after his side’s 2-2 draw with New Zealand in Los Angeles, branding Iran the “most oppressed” team at the tournament. The federation has now moved from words to action.

In a strongly worded statement, the Football Federation of Iran (FFIRI) said the restrictions are “inconsistent with the principle of providing equal conditions for all participating teams and may negatively affect teams' preparation processes”. The federation confirmed it “will formally express its dissatisfaction and lodge an official complaint with Fifa through the appropriate channels”.

This World Cup was never going to be simple for Iran. Their very participation has been overshadowed by the war in the Middle East and the security concerns that followed. The political backdrop has seeped into almost every logistical detail.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino even visited the Iran dressing room after the New Zealand game, a rare intervention that underlined the tension around the team. By then, Iran had already suffered another blow: multiple “integral” members of their backroom staff were denied US entry visas.

On top of that, FFIRI say their ticket allocation for the tournament was revoked on the eve of the competition, prompting a public appeal for Fifa to “uphold the principles of neutrality, fairness, and established regulations”.

The US authorities, though, insist Iran knew exactly what it was signing up for. “The Iranian national football team agreed to these terms,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told the BBC in response to Ghalenoei’s comments.

The issue is not theoretical. It is now shaping Iran’s tournament in real time.

Originally, Iran planned to base themselves in Arizona. With the conflict in the Middle East escalating, they shifted their camp to Tijuana in Mexico. Yet both of their remaining group games are on US soil: Belgium in Los Angeles on 21 June (20:00 BST) and Egypt in Seattle on 27 June (04:00 BST).

From a football perspective, the federation’s request was straightforward. Iran say they “needed to arrive in each host city two days before every match and return to its base camp the day after the game in order to achieve optimal technical and physical preparation”. That plan was rejected before the opener against New Zealand.

The pattern has now repeated itself.

“The same situation has now been repeated ahead of Iran's second match against Belgium,” FFIRI said. With a midday kick-off in Los Angeles, the federation asked for permission to travel to the city two days before the game. The goal was simple: allow the players time to adapt to conditions, complete their final training session in the match venue, and put the finishing touches to their preparation.

“Despite the technical reasons presented by the federation, the request was once again denied,” the statement added.

At the White House, the stance remains firm. Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House Fifa Task Force, laid out the framework bluntly in an interview with CBS News.

“The team will be allowed to come in, match day minus one, so the day before the match,” he said. “They'll be asked to leave the day that the match wraps up, so the evening of the match. And they'll be able to do that again in Los Angeles.”

All this unfolds against a fragile diplomatic thaw. The presidents of the US and Iran have signed an initial peace deal aimed at ending the war, yet the football team remains tightly controlled at the border.

On the pitch, Iran still have a World Cup to navigate. Off it, they are fighting a second battle — one waged in meeting rooms, legal channels, and diplomatic corridors. As the group stage unfolds on American soil, the question lingers: how much can a team really compete when its preparation begins at passport control?