Iran soccer chief: 'Our World Cup host is FIFA, not Mr Trump or America'

News

Martin Macdonald | Writer

Content writer covering football, formula 1 and movies

Iran's soccer chief says their World Cup host "is FIFA, not Mr Trump or America" as the Middle East nation prepares to travel to the United States for the 2026 World Cup this summer.

The headlines in the lead-up to the tournament in North America have largely been dominated by Iran's participation in the tournament as they are currently engaged in a war with the USA, who are partnering with Israel.

The war began on 28 February 2026 when the USA and Israel launched surprise airstrikes on targets inside Iran, including military, nuclear, and leadership sites. Those strikes came while nuclear talks were still taking place, and they killed senior Iranian figures including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, which immediately escalated the situation.

Iran responded with missile and drone attacks on Israel and US bases, and the conflict moved to threaten the Strait of Hormuz, which has impacted travel, global energy markets, inflation and shipping.

Iranian FA chief Mehdi Taj was part of a delegation that turned back at the Canadian border before last week’s FIFA Congress in Vancouver after they felt immigration officials had treated them disrespectfully. Taj said the decision to return home was their own, but Canada’s immigration minister told parliament that the FFIRI president’s visa was cancelled while he was in the air because of his links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The IRGC was created to defend Iran’s Islamic system and has since become a powerful military, political, and economic force in the country. It is also designated as a terrorist organisation by Canada and the US.

"We need a guarantee there, for our trip, that they have no right to insult the symbols of our system - especially the IRGC," Taj, who served as a high-ranking IRGC official, said on Iranian television this week.

"This is something they must pay serious attention to. If there is such a guarantee and the responsibility is clearly assumed, then an incident like what happened in Canada will not happen again.

"We are going to the World Cup, for which we qualified, and our host is FIFA - not Mr Trump or America.

"If they accept hosting us, then they must also accept that they must not insult our military institutions in any way.

"Because if they do, then naturally it could create the same kind of situation that happened in Canada, where there was a possibility we might have to return.

"So there must be this kind of guarantee so that we can go with peace of mind."

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio previously said the Iran national team will be welcomed to North America for the World Cup but has barred other travellers with links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“Nothing from the US has told them they can’t come,” Rubio told reporters.

“The problem with Iran would be not their athletes. It would be some of the other people they would want to bring with them, some of whom have ties to the IRGC. We may not be able to let them in, but not the athletes themselves.

“They can’t bring a bunch of IRGC terrorists into our country and pretend that they are journalists and athletic trainers."

Donald Trump previously said on Truth Social that Iran were welcome at the World Cup but the squad should probably stay away for safety purposes.

Washington has designated the IRGC as a “foreign terrorist organisation”.