Iran cannot - and will not – participate in the FIFA World Cup after the U.S. eliminated its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s sports minister Ahmad Donyamali vowed Wednesday.
“Considering that this corrupt regime [the U.S.] has assassinated our leader, under no circumstances can we participate in the World Cup,” the minister told state television, Reuters reports.
The U.S. will co-host the World Cup with Canada and Mexico in June/July but all of Iran’s group-stage fixtures are allocated to American cities.
Iran are due to face New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles on 15 and 21 June and Egypt in Seattle on 26 June.
“In view of the malicious measures taken against Iran, two wars were forced upon us within eight or nine months, and several thousand of our people were killed. Therefore, we definitely have no possibility of participating in this way,” Donyamali outlined.
The Iran national football team’s supporters will now be absent from the next FIFA World Cup. (Noushad Thekkayil/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
It is the first time an official from the Iranian government has spoken on the country’s participation in the global soccer tournament since the U.S. and Israel launched their attacks on the nation on February 28.
The head of the Iranian Football Federation cast doubt on his team’s participation last week but did not say the team would boycott the FIFA World Cup.
“After this attack [on Iran], we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope,” Mehdi Taj, president of the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI), said on March 1.
Donyamali’s statement comes after FIFA chief Gianni Infantino claimed he had received assurances from U.S. president Donald Trump the Iranian team would be are “welcome” to compete at the event.
“We also spoke about the current situation in Iran, and the fact that the Iranian team has qualified to participate in the FIFA World Cup 2026,” Infantino wrote in a statement posted to Instagram, the BBC reports.
“During the discussions, President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States.”
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