Just days before kick-off, Iran fans have been told they can’t go. Their World Cup tickets? Cancelled. And they’re not happy about it.

Here’s the messy situation, as reported by cbinews.tv.

Iran’s football federation, the FFIRI, says FIFA has revoked its entire allocation of fan tickets for the World Cup group stage. This bombshell drops just before the tournament starts on Thursday, co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the US.

What’s happening with Iran’s matches?

Iran are set to play New Zealand on 15 June and Belgium on 21 June – both in Los Angeles – then Egypt in Seattle on 26 June.

Under FIFA rules, each country at the World Cup gets 8% of the tickets for their matches to give to supporters. The FFIRI says it had already started selling those tickets. Now it’s been told it can no longer provide them. The kicker? Some Iranian fans have already booked flights and hotels.

The FFIRI didn’t hold back in its statement:

"Depriving Iranian supporters of access to their lawful and official allocation of tickets is an action contrary to the spirit of governing international competitions and the principle of equality among participating countries," it said.

It went further, saying this "raises serious questions about the interference of non-sporting and political considerations in the organisation of the world's biggest football event." They’ve called on FIFA "to uphold the principles of neutrality, fairness, and established regulations."

It’s been a chaotic build-up for Team Melli

Honestly, Iran’s World Cup campaign has been shaky for weeks, with the Middle East conflict and security worries hanging over everything.

- 25 May: Iran moved their training base from Tucson, Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico. They claimed the US were unwilling to host them.

- Visa headaches: Players have to fly in and out of the US on matchday for each group game.

- 6 June: Iran accused the US of denying visas to "integral" backroom staff. Fifteen admin officials were refused entry.

Before all this, the FFIRI gave FIFA a list of 10 conditions for taking part. One of them was allowing players, coaches and officials who’ve done military service with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to attend.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio has said Iran’s players are welcome, but anyone with IRGC links could face entry restrictions.

And remember April? Iran were the only country missing from FIFA’s annual congress in Vancouver. A whole FFIRI delegation, including president Medhi Taj, got turned away at the Canadian border.

So yeah, it’s tense. With the tournament days away, Iranian fans are now left ticketless and asking if politics is getting in the way of football.

Attribution: cbinews.tv

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