Iran continues to be treated badly by the US at the World Cup, says manager

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) – Iran national team coach Amir Ghalenoei says his team continues to be treated unfairly by the hosts, the United States. world cup He is optimistic that FIFA will persuade Americans to ease some of these restrictions next week through travel restrictions and visa denials.

“We are very happy that the Iranian state is supporting us,” Galenoei said through an interpreter. “The martyrs of Iran, we are playing for them. But we know that this kind of behavior hurts our people. Even if we spend billions of dollars, we will not bring justice to our people. This only shows that we are an oppressed country. Still, I hope that we will achieve peace and I hope that this kind of behavior will not become institutionalized at the World Cup.”

Iran returned to the Los Angeles area on Saturday for Sunday’s second match against Belgium, but Galenoei said his request to travel on Friday was denied, forcing him to curtail his team’s training ahead of the difficult match against the team ranked No. 10 in the FIFA world rankings.

“We needed 24 hours (in Los Angeles) and were given less than 16 hours, so we had to stop training midway through,” Galenoei said. “These constraints make it very difficult for us.”

Galenoei also appealed to other World Cup teams and coaches to speak out against the treatment of the Iranian team.

“I asked 47 other coaches and no one answered,” he said. “We are here for football, not politics, and we say the same thing again. What we are unhappy about is their attitude towards us. We haven’t heard anything from the other managers[at the World Cup]. I’m sure they’re busy preparing their teams and we never expect them to react. But if they see other teams being treated the same way as us, they’ll say something.”

The Iranian team is operating under travel restrictions set by the United States. The war against Iran began on February 28th.. Team Melli was instructed to fly to the United States the day before the match and return to their training base in Tijuana, Mexico immediately afterwards.

during that schedule Not considered a nuisance With other teams voluntarily moving within the same period, that’s not what Galenoei wants. Iran trained at LA Galaxy’s home stadium in suburban Carson on Saturday afternoon after a short flight from Tijuana.

Iran national team midfielder Saeed Ezatollah said, “We cannot deny that our situation is not the same as other teams.” “All the other teams managed to focus on their plans, but we had to spend so much time just commuting.”

Galenoei has repeatedly praised FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s attempts to ease restrictions on the American side and is optimistic that the US government will allow Team Melli to travel to Seattle next week, two days before the final group stage game against Egypt.

“In Game 3, they said, ‘You can do whatever you want in Seattle,'” Galenoy said. “‘You can do whatever you want, you can come earlier.’ But my question is, why didn’t they let us come earlier for the first two games? All I know is that for the last game, they allowed us to make our own decisions in terms of travel plans. But unfortunately, for the first two games, other people decided the timing for us.”

The coach said FIFA spent much of Friday trying to convince the U.S. government to allow Iran to fly to Los Angeles that day. Galenoi was waiting on the phone for permission to fly to the airport, but negotiations failed.

“They said, ‘Sorry, we can’t do that,'” Galenoei said. “And it will affect us mentally, especially because as a head coach I want to focus on technical things. I’m grateful to FIFA, but that doesn’t mean it’s a success. I just hope we don’t have any problems in future World Cups.”

Iran also played their World Cup opening match at SoFi Stadium on Monday. Draw 2-2 with inferior New Zealand One day, I completed a 5-hour commute, including delays at customs.

Coach Galenoi said after the game that he was surprised and upset that he was ordered to leave the country immediately instead of spending one more day in the United States to optimize his team’s recovery period. US officials claimed Iran already knew About its limitations.

Mr. Galenoei acknowledged on Saturday that the Iranians cleared customs faster this time and arrived at their Los Angeles hotel after a short flight from Tijuana, giving credit to U.S. officials for ironing out some of the bureaucratic wrinkles.

However, he also reiterated his complaints about the team’s traveling members who were denied visas, including the Iranian Football Federation president, coaching support staff and media relations staff.

“This kind of behavior has no place in the World Cup,” Galenoi said. “If you invite your team, why don’t you include support staff and backstage staff?”

Galenoei said the Iranian Football Federation had not formally complained to FIFA about its treatment, only publicly expressing its dissatisfaction.

Belgium right-back Thomas Meunier expressed the team’s sympathy for the Iranians’ situation, which reminded them of what they faced with Ukraine after the Russian invasion.

“We don’t usually mix football and politics, but certainly it’s very difficult to separate the two,” Meunier said through an interpreter. “In my opinion, the Iranian team should perform better during this period. When they played against Ukraine in the Nations League, there was a very high level of motivation and energy. They want to make their people proud and protect their country. For us, that is an added challenge. Some of the Iranian players will have families who have been directly affected by the war, and we obviously sympathize with them.”

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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/FIFA-World-Cup