Iran’s travel request was denied ahead of their World Cup second leg against Belgium in Los Angeles, with coach Amir Galenoei disappointed at the lack of support from other teams.
Iran head coach Amir Galenoei spoke candidly at a press conference (Image: Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images)
Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei accused the coaches of the other 47 teams participating in the World Cup of not supporting his grievances against the United States. Iran was forced to move its training base to Mexico and is operating under travel restrictions during the tournament.
They returned to the United States to play Belgium in their second game on Sunday. After drawing 2-2 with New Zealand, Iran was forced to return to Tijuana as the schedule was extended due to US restrictions.
Galenoei described Iran as “the most suppressed team in the entire World Cup” after the draw against New Zealand and lodged a complaint with FIFA after his request to fly to Los Angeles early was refused.
Iran’s coach has revealed that his appeals to other World Cup teams for support have gone unheeded. “I asked 47 other coaches and no one answered,” he said.
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“We’re here for football, not politics, and we’re saying the same thing again. Our complaint is about 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.”
Iran had hoped to land in California two days before Sunday’s game to prepare. But that request was denied, with U.S. officials insisting he would only be in the country for 24 hours before and after the game.
“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 was able to practice in the US before the second leg (Image: Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images)
He added, “[In Los Angeles]we needed 24 hours, but we were given less than 16 hours. So we had to stop training midway through. These constraints were very difficult for us.”
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.”
Still, Galenoei is hopeful that FIFA will resolve the situation in time for Saturday’s third Group G match against Egypt in Seattle. “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 as well? All I know is that for the last game, they allowed us to make our own decisions about travel plans. But unfortunately, for the first two games, other people decided the timing for us.”
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