Maha Christopher
Iran’s national football team is set to lodge a complaint with FIFA over travel restrictions imposed during the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America.
According to AFP, the Iranian Football Federation said the restrictions have disrupted the team’s preparations despite submitting its tournament plans well in advance.
A spokesman for the federation said Iran had once again encountered obstacles from tournament organisers that affected the implementation of plans by the coaching crew.
“Despite having submitted its preparation schedule for the tournament well in advance, Iran’s national football team has once again encountered restrictions imposed by the organisers, affecting the implementation of its technical staff’s plans,” the spokesman said.
The federation explained that the team wanted to travel from its base camp in Tijuana, Mexico, to Los Angeles two days before Sunday’s Group Stage clash against Belgium.
However, the request was reportedly rejected by organisers.
“Given that the game will be played at 12:00 pm local time in Los Angeles, the Football Federation of Iran requested that the team be allowed to travel to Los Angeles two days before the match,” the spokesman said.
“The aim was to provide sufficient time for players to adapt to the match conditions, complete their final training session, and finalize preparations.”
He added that despite presenting technical reasons for the request, approval was not granted.
“Despite the technical reasons presented by the federation, the request was once again denied,” he said.
The federation is expected to formally submit its complaint to FIFA as Iran continues preparations for the crucial encounter against Belgium.
