March 3 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he did not care whether Iran participated in this summer’s soccer World Cup, which is being jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.
“I really don’t care. I think Iran is a very badly defeated country. They’re running on fumes,” Trump told Politico.
Iran was the only nation missing from a FIFA planning summit for World Cup participants held this week in Atlanta, deepening questions over whether the country’s soccer team will compete on U.S. soil this summer amid an escalating regional war.
Soccer’s world governing body FIFA, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
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Mehdi Taj, president of the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, said the viciousness of the attacks by U.S. and Israeli forces did not augur well for the World Cup, to be held from June 11 to July 19.
Iran secured a trip to a fourth successive World Cup by topping Group A in the third round of Asian qualifying last year.
The Iranians were grouped with Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand in Group G.
Their matches are scheduled to take place in the U.S., two in Los Angeles and one in Seattle.
If both the U.S. and Iran finish second in their respective groups, the two countries could meet in a July 3 elimination match in Dallas.
Iran is one of two competing nations subject to Trump’s most restrictive travel ban, enacted by executive order last June, according to Politico. While the ban carves out World Cup teams and support personnel, decisions on visa exceptions for others — including government figures or executives from team-sponsoring companies — are left to the State Department on a case-by-case basis.
Andrew Giuliani, director of the White House FIFA World Cup Task Force, said in a January interview in Colorado Springs that security concerns would shape the administration’s approach to travel ban exceptions.
In a statement to Politico on Tuesday, Giuliani added: “President Trump’s decisive action to eliminate the Ayatollah, the most notorious state sponsor of terrorism in my lifetime, removes a major destabilizing threat and will help protect people around the world, including Americans and the millions planning to attend the 2026 World Cup in the United States.”
In the modern era, no team that has qualified has not taken part in the World Cup finals. Iran would almost certainly be replaced if it withdraws from the tournament.
(Reporting by Christian Martinez and Bhargav Acharya; additional reporting Angelica Medina; editing by Michelle Nichols, David Ljunggren and Alistair Bell)
