Iran‘s late request to change their World Cup base has been approved by FIFA, according to Iran Football Federation President Mehdi Taj, reports sportbible.com.
Doubts about Iran’s participation in the 48-team tournament had continued to emerge amid the conflict with the United States, with the country having major security fears after being placed on Donald Trump’s banned list.
Iran, who were initially set to boycott December’s World Cup draw over visas, have been placed in Group G alongside New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt.
Air strikes back in February prompted the country to threaten to pull out of the competition, and they were refused access to a World Cup meeting.
Though they did then commit to participating, there were still major concerns from Iran, which has all three games taking place in a country with which they have been at war.
They asked for their games to be moved to Mexico, but FIFA knocked the request back due to “complicated” logistics.
However, they have approved a separate request from Iran to have their World Cup headquarters relocated from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, Mexico.
The move was announced by Iran football chief Taj in a statement on Saturday.
“All team base camps for the countries participating in the World Cup must be approved by FIFA,” Taj said. “Fortunately, following the requests we submitted and the meetings we held with FIFA and World Cup officials in Istanbul, as well as the webinar meeting we had yesterday in Tehran with the respected FIFA secretary general, our request to change the team’s base from the United States to Mexico was approved.”
Iran players are currently in Turkey for a training camp before they take on New Zealand in their opener on June 15 at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, returning to the same venue six days later against Belgium.
They will then conclude their group stage campaign with a clash against Egypt on June 27.
The decision from Iran could be a convenient one as a flight to Los Angeles from Tijuana is just 55 minutes, and Taj believes the team could be allowed to travel on Iran Air planes.
Visa issues should be resolved, as players and staff will only be in the U.S. for games before travelling back out.
Following a ceasefire which was agreed after the initial conflict, the US and Iran are currently in negotiations over a peace deal, with Trump stating that it has been “largely negotiated,” and “final aspects and details of the deal are currently being discussed.”
It comes after a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which Trump said went “very well”.