FIFA President Gianni Infantino has been speaking out in recent days about Iran’s participation in this summer’s World Cup, and one of President Donald Trump’s advisers provided an update.
Donald Trump sent a message to the Iranian national team earlier this year (Image: Getty Images)
A White House official said he was “hopeful” that Iran would qualify for the World Cup following assurances from FIFA’s president. The country’s qualification for this summer’s tournament has been in jeopardy since the outbreak of conflict between the United States and Israel.
President Donald Trump issued an update earlier this year, saying that while he welcomed Iran, he advised against travel due to security concerns.
“While we welcome the Iranian national soccer team to participate in the World Cup, we simply do not believe it is appropriate for them to be there considering their own lives and safety,” he said.
And after FIFA President Gianni Infantino provided updates in recent days, Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House FIFA World Cup Task Force, also spoke out.
Speaking to Politico, he said: “I’m not going to speak on behalf of the Iranian team, but I will just say that when I spoke to the president, he invited the Iranian team here.
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“Yesterday, the FIFA president released a statement saying they will be coming, so we expect them to be here. We expect them to be in Tucson in early June and then play in Los Angeles and Seattle.”
Iran is scheduled to play Puerto Rico in the United States in a pre-tournament friendly, and Giuliani believes the game will go ahead as scheduled. Giuliani added: “I heard that too, which means they are still active. From what I understand, nothing has changed in the plans for the friendly.”
Giuliani’s comments came after Infantino’s own update. He said he was confident that the Iranian national team would participate in the World Cup.
Andrew Giuliani provided an update on Iran’s standings in the World Cup (Image: Getty Images)
He said: “The Iranian team will definitely come. Of course, we hope that the situation will be peaceful by then.”
“As I said, it definitely helps. But Iran has to come. Of course they represent the people. They have qualified. The players want to play.”
Infantino added: “I went to see them. They’re actually a very good team as well. And they really want to play and they should play. Sports should be outside of politics now. They should play.”
“Okay, we don’t live on the moon, we live on Earth. But even if there’s no one else who believes in building bridges and maintaining them, you know, intact and together, we’re doing that work.”
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