Iran to lodge complaint with Fifa over World Cup restrictions after request turned down
Iranian football federation says the team were denied permission to fly in from Mexico two days before the match against Belgium on Sunday
The Iranian football federation said on Thursday it would lodge a complaint with Fifa claiming its team was being subjected to travel restrictions during the World Cup in North America.
Iran wanted to fly from their base camp in Tijuana, Mexico, to the United States two days before their next match, against Belgium in Los Angeles on Sunday.
But a spokesman for the Iranian federation said its request was turned down.
“Despite having submitted its preparation schedule for the tournament well in advance, Iran’s national football team has once again encountered restrictions imposed by the organisers, affecting the implementation of its technical staff’s plans,” the spokesman said.
“Given that the game will be played at 12pm local time in Los Angeles [Monday 3am, Hong Kong time], the Football Federation of Iran requested that the team be allowed to travel to Los Angeles two days before the match.”
It said the aim of its request was to allow players “to adapt to the match conditions, complete their final training session, and finalise preparations”.
