Iran boycotting World Cup draw citing visa restrictions for football officials
Published: 30 Nov. 2025, 12:30
![The Iranian national team poses for a team photo before an Asian group A qualifying match for the 2026 World Cup against North Korea at Azadi Stadium in Tehran, Iran, on June 10. [AP/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/30/af875738-9177-4a17-acf9-7ed688a7fe75.jpg)
The Iranian national team poses for a team photo before an Asian group A qualifying match for the 2026 World Cup against North Korea at Azadi Stadium in Tehran, Iran, on June 10. [AP/YONHAP]
Iran has decided to boycott the 2026 World Cup draw in Washington next week because the United States denied visas to members of its delegation, the state-run IRNA news agency reported on Friday.
The agency quoted Iranian football federation spokesman Amir-Mahdi Alavi as saying that officials faced visa obstacles that go beyond sports considerations.
There was no immediate comment from the White House.
Alavi said the federation had reached out to FIFA and hoped it could help resolve the issue. Football's ruling body didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration announced in June a travel ban on citizens from 12 countries including Iran. The list also included Haiti, which last week qualified for the World Cup.
Exemptions, however, were promised for “any athlete or member of an athletic team, including coaches, persons performing a necessary support role and immediate relatives, traveling for the World Cup, Olympics or other major sporting event as determined by the secretary of state.”
It is unclear whether the exemptions also apply to the World Cup draw, which takes place on Friday at the Kennedy Center.
The Iranian delegation would have been expected to be led by its football federation president, Mehdi Taj, one of the most senior officials in Asian football and a member of two FIFA committees that oversee the World Cup.
He is one of the vice presidents of the Asian Football Confederation and a member of FIFA panels with responsibility for the ruling body’s competitions as well as men’s national team football in general.
A record 48 teams will participate in the World Cup co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico that will run from June 11 to July 19.
AP
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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