Donald Trump said he does not care if Iran play in this summer’s World Cup which is set to be jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
Speaking to Politico on Tuesday, Mr Trump said: “I really don’t care. I think Iran is a very badly defeated country. They’re running on fumes.”
His comments follow Iran’s notable absence as the only nation missing from a FIFA planning summit for World Cup participants held this week in Atlanta.
This has deepened questions over whether the country’s football team will compete on US soil this summer amid an escalating regional war.
Soccer’s world governing body, Fifa, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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 which has qualified has not taken part in the World Cup finals. Iran would almost certainly be replaced if it withdraws from the tournament.
