There will now be no Iran supporters allowed at the World Cup after tickets revoked

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Martin Macdonald | Writer

Content writer covering football, formula 1 and movies

There will be no official Iran supporters at the World Cup this summer after supporter tickets were revoked days before the tournament is set to commence.

The next edition of the World Cup starts this week and will feature 48 teams competing across North America, with the United States, Canada and Mexico acting as co-hosts.

One of the nations set to compete is Iran, but they are involved in an ongoing war with the United States and Israel, which has led to major diplomatic headaches for FIFA. The country's participation in the World Cup was questioned but they have decided to compete - even if Donald Trump warned them against coming, as he could not guarantee the safety of players and officials.

Iran have been forced to relocate to Mexico for the duration of the tournament despite all their matches taking place in the States. Their travelling contingent will only be allowed to stay in the States for a period of 24 hours before returning to Mexico.

Several Iran officials have not been granted visas to travel to North America, and now, supporers won't be able to see their team either, despite the country receiving around 8% of tickets per group stage match, after match tickets wer suddenly revoked.

“This is despite the fact that many Iranian football fans, relying on the officially announced process, had already made the necessary plans to attend the matches,” the FFIRI said in a statement.

"Depriving Iranian supporters of access to their lawful and official allocation of tickets is an action contrary to the spirit of governing international competitions and the principle of equality among participating countries.

"This development raises serious questions about the interference of non-sporting and political considerations in the organisation of the world's biggest football event."

Iran’s road to the World Cup is heavily entangled in geopolitical friction. The country’s football federation, the FFIRI, previously demanded that FIFA guarantee tournament access for any players, coaches, or staff whose mandatory military service was served under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

This conditional ultimatum faces a steep wall in Washington, where US Secretary of State Marco Rubio clarified that while athletes are welcome, anyone tied to the IRGC risks being barred from entry.

These visa battles are already actively disrupting Iranian football; just two months ago, Iran was completely unrepresented at the FIFA congress in Vancouver after Canadian border agents blocked the entire delegation, including federation head Mehdi Taj, from entering the country.