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Iran’s chaotic World Cup campaign took another twist when their players were left waiting – with their bags packed – after FIFA’s attempt to fix their travel woes failed.
In another highly-charged press conference, head coach Amir Ghalenoei also claimed he has been shunned by the other 47 managers at this World Cup as he hit out once more over Iran’s ‘unfair’ treatment during the tournament.
Iran’s national team have been dogged by visa and travel issues in recent weeks, with Ghalenoei’s players forced to follow strict rules around when they can fly in and out of the USA before their opening two games in Group G.
Iran landed in Los Angeles on Saturday lunchtime, barely 24 hours ahead of their game against Belgium at SoFi Stadium. Belgium arrived a day earlier.
Ghalenoei revealed that FIFA tried to charter an earlier flight to Los Angeles on Friday, only for those plans to fall through.
‘He did his utmost to remove the obstacles, [FIFA president] Mr Infantino tried to minimize the problems we faced,’ the coach said Saturday.
Iran head coach Amir Ghalenoei says his team endured more travel chaos from Mexico to LA
Iran are preparing for the second game of their World Cup campaign against Belgium
‘They [FIFA] phoned me and said: “Are you ready if we get you a flight at 6pm?” I welcomed that but we sat and waited and waited.
‘We waited until 7pm, nothing happened. “OK, sorry, we weren’t able to do that.” That’s going to affect us mentally, especially me as a head coach… I know FIFA is trying its best, I thank them for that but it doesn’t mean they have succeeded.’
Instead, Iran did not leave Tijuana until shortly before midday on Saturday. Ghalenoei also bemoaned the lack of support from other teams in the tournament.
‘I have not had any reaction from anyone,’ the Iran boss said. ‘Our grievances are to do with the way [World Cup organizers] have behaved towards us.
‘I’ve not heard from other coaches, they are busy with their own teams, and we did not receive anything… I would have [done].’
Ghalenoei added: ‘It seems like the honorable coach of Belgium [Rudi Garcia] said we are here for football and not politics.’
After Donald Trump’s World Cup chief, Andrew Giuliani, opened the door to easing Iran’s travel restrictions, Ghalenoei revealed that Iran will be able to fly in two days early for their final group game against Egypt next week.
‘I wish they could have done it for the first two games,’ he said. ‘To arrive in optimal conditions, they robbed us of this.’
FIFA’s World Cup regulations state that ‘each team shall travel from its Team Base Camp to the match venue one day before matchday (MD‑1) and in exceptional cases on MD‑2, and shall return to their Team Base Camp after the match (on MD/MD+1).’
