However, the most important issue of the meeting so far is who is not there.
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Iranian soccer officials, including federation president Mehdi Taj, were denied entry into Canada on Tuesday. Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand said Wednesday the situation was “involuntary.”
Iran was not present during the roll call Thursday morning. FIFA President Gianni Infantino said Thursday — again — that “of course” Iran will play in the World Cup and in the United States this summer.
Iranian officials missed the Asian Football Confederation Congress, which was also held in Vancouver this week. The Canadian government’s immigration department has not commented on the officials’ specific cases, although it noted the fact that the United States and Canada have designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization and have banned its members from entering.
It is unclear which Iranian football officials have alleged links to the IRGC.
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Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iranian players are welcome at this summer’s World Cup, but that the “problem with Iran” is non-athletes who have ties to the IRGC. “You can’t bring a group of IRGC terrorists to our country and pretend they are journalists and sports coaches,” Rubio said.
Iranian officials also had trouble entering the United States for the World Cup draw in Washington, D.C., in December. Shortly after the United States and Israel first launched joint attacks against Iran on February 28, the Iranian federation did not attend FIFA workshops in Atlanta in early March.
Team Melli plans to play two games in Los Angeles and one in Seattle. If Iran and the United States finish second in their respective groups, they will meet in the round of 32 in Dallas on July 3.
Tasnim, an Iranian state media agency, said the federation leaders were denied entry due to “inappropriate behavior by immigration officials” in Toronto. Iran International, a UK-based news site, reported earlier this week that Taj had received special permission to allow him to enter Canada because, according to the outlet, he is a former IRGC intelligence officer. The news sparked a backlash from Canada’s Senate Opposition Leader Leo Housakos, who questioned “whether and why” the government allowed a temporary permit for someone “with alleged ties to the IRGC.”
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Canadian Minister Anand said she “understands that there is a revocation of the permit.”
FIFA did not respond to a request for comment.
Iran’s participation in the World Cup was uncertain for months. Iranian officials and federation leaders have changed their position, as has US President Donald Trump, who at one point said that perhaps the team should not come “for their own lives and safety.” Throughout the war, FIFA has said it wants all qualified countries to play in the tournament and rejected Iran’s request to move its matches to Mexico. FIFA has close ties to the Trump administration, including building a headquarters at Trump Tower in New York and awarding the American leader the first FIFA Peace Prize in December.
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