Khaberni - The Iranian Football Federation has decided to boycott the draw ceremony for the 2026 World Cup, scheduled to occur next Friday, featuring 48 teams for the first time in the history of the finals.
The 23rd edition of the World Cup draw will be held at the John Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts located in Washington D.C., the capital of the United States.
Amir Mehdi Alavi, spokesperson for the Iranian federation, clarified that this decision stems from the failure of the Iranian delegation to obtain U.S. visas.
Alavi said in remarks to official Iranian television, "We have informed the International Football Federation 'FIFA' that the decisions made (not granting visas) are not related to sports, and that members of the Iranian delegation will not participate in the World Cup draw."
Alavi also mentioned that his country's federation has asked 'FIFA' to intervene and find a solution to this issue, while the latter has not yet responded to these requests.
In the meantime, the American network "ESPN" confirmed that the White House has not commented regarding the refusal to grant visas to the Iranian delegation.
The Iranian delegation is expected to be headed by the president of the federation in the country, Mehdi Taj, who is a senior official in Asian football and a member of two FIFA committees overseeing the World Cup.
Taj is also a vice-president of the Asian Football Confederation and a member of FIFA's committees responsible for its competitions.
This comes hours after local Iranian media reported that the United States had indeed already refused to grant a visa to the president of the Iranian federation.
First Crisis at World Cup 2026
The French newspaper "Le Parisien" commented on this incident, "The first real obstacle and crisis to emerge ahead of the 2026 World Cup."
It stated that the recent decision is an implementation of the law that prohibits the entry of citizens from 12 countries into the United States, which came into effect on Monday, June 9, 2025.
The decision includes citizens from countries considered by the Trump administration as dangerous, which are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Haiti, and Iran.
However, this ban exempts certain athletes, their coaches, and national federation officials who travel to the country to participate in the World Cup, Olympics, or any other major sports event designated by the U.S. Department of State, but it appears that the World Cup draw was not yet included among the mentioned sports events.
The United States, along with Mexico and Canada, will host the 23rd edition of the World Cup from June 11, 2026, to July 19 of the same year.
