FIFA president reiterates Iran will play in men’s World Cup, Seattle

by · The Seattle Times

Two months out from the first FIFA Men’s World Cup match being played in Seattle, the head of the international organization said again that the country most in question of being able to play its scheduled match in Seattle is expected to be here.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino reiterated Wednesday that the governing body of soccer expects Iran to participate in the World Cup despite the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Iran is scheduled to play its final group stage match on June 26 at Lumen Field — or Seattle Stadium as it will be known for the tournament — against Egypt.

“The Iranian team is coming for sure. We hope by then the situation will be a peaceful situation. As I said that would definitely help,” Infantino said while speaking at the CNBC Invest in America forum. “Iran has to come. They represent their people. They have qualified. The players want to play.”

Iran’s ability to participate in the tournament has been in question since attacks by the United States and Israel started on the country in late February. Infantino visited with the Iranian team during a training camp in Turkey a couple of weeks ago.

“They are quite a good team as well. They want to play. They should play,” Infantino said. “Sports should be outside of politics. OK, we don’t live on the moon, we live on planet earth. But if there’s nobody else that believes in building bridges and keeping them intact and together, well, we are doing that.”

The next time Infantino is likely to get pressed on the topic will be the FIFA Congress — the gathering of all the federations around the world — taking place in Vancouver, B.C. in two weeks.  

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