Iran suffered a blow to its treatment in the United States, with coach Amir Galenoei saying his team was the “most oppressed team” at the World Cup.
The team’s development for the tournament was severely affected by the conflict between Iran and the United States, with the squad having to move its training camp to Mexico.
They drew 2-2 against New Zealand in their Group G opener. A passionate Iranian-American crowd cheered after some in the 70,000-strong crowd at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles mocked their national anthem.
Iranian supporters gathered at Sofai Stadium in Los Angeles
Iran wasn’t even expected to make it to this final when co-hosts the United States, along with Israel, began a bombing campaign in February.
A peace deal may have finally been agreed on Sunday, but developments in the game have only served to highlight the complexities and polarized views surrounding the team’s involvement, with Ghalenoei appearing to offer strong criticism of US authorities.
“We spent too much time commuting in the air,” he said. “They didn’t even give us time to recover after today’s game. They told us we had to leave immediately.”
“It was very important for us to have time to recover, but then we were asked to go back to Tijuana and that was really distressing.”
Iranian director Amir Galenoei
“We don’t know why they are sending us away. I find it very strange. It seems like other people are making plans for us and the decisions are being made elsewhere. We were supposed to arrive two days before the game but we weren’t allowed. We were supposed to stay tonight and come back tomorrow lunchtime, but I don’t know why and they didn’t tell us.”
“Our team is the most oppressed team in the entire World Cup.
“We don’t have a federation here. We don’t have our media. Our management team, a lot of them are not here. We used to have a coaching team to help with the transition, but there’s nothing like that. A lot of people in the technical world have had to deal with that.”
Sky Sports News FIFA has been approached for comment.
Iran captain Mehdi Taremi described their treatment as a ‘disaster’ and revealed that FIFA president Gianni Infantino was in the locker room and offered to ‘help’ the team.
Footage of Infantino released by
Coach Infantino also reportedly told his players that he would do his best to ensure that the Iranian delegation, which did not receive visas, could travel to the United States for the remaining group matches.
Taremi added: “We have no boss, no employees. This is very important for us. Our manager, for example, came here to do media work and he knows that everything is like a disaster for us.”
Protests and boos at Iran’s first match
Protesters gathered outside the stadium before kick-off, calling for change in Tehran.
The Iranian national anthem was greeted with boos inside the stadium, but a few minutes earlier there had been loud cheers when images of the team in the tunnel appeared on the big screen above the stadium, and the team’s voices were also strongly supported as the match began.
The Iranian community in Los Angeles is mainly composed of those who fled Iran during the 1979 Islamic Revolution and their children, so there is strong anti-regime sentiment.
FIFA won a lawsuit on Monday morning to ban flags bearing the pre-revolutionary ‘lion and sun’ emblem from being brought into stadiums, but plenty of evidence was secured inside the stadium ahead of kick-off.
Protesters promised “hell” in the run-up to the game, and while some aggressive anti-regime slogans were chanted around SoFi Stadium, describing Tehran’s leaders as “terrorists”, many people attending the game were keen to disassociate the team from the state they represent.
