Iranian team criticizes World Cup organization, says Gianni Infantino has promised to help

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Two Iranian players and head coach Amir Ghalenoei criticized World Cup organizers for travel restrictions that they say are impacting the team’s preparations and performance at the tournament.

Speaking after a 2-2 draw with New Zealand, Ghalenoei, striker Mehdi Taremi and goalscorer Mohammad Mohebbi said that they were being forced to fly back to their base camp in Mexico hours after Monday’s match here at SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles.

Taremi and Ghalenoei said the team had hoped to do a recovery session Tuesday in Los Angeles, the day after the match, but had been told they couldn’t.

“They have said we have to leave immediately,” Ghalenoei said through an interpreter. “We are really troubled by that. We don’t know why they are returning us, to be honest. It seems very strange. It seems others are doing the planning for us.”

He continued: “Our team is the most oppressed one in the whole World Cup.”

Ghalenoei and the players mentioned the team’s ongoing troubles with U.S. visas. An Iranian Football Federation official told The Athletic on Sunday that 11 staffers had been denied entry into the United States.

“Our president isn’t here, our media isn’t here, many of our management team isn’t here,” Ghalenoei said.

Taremi said bluntly: “Everything is like a disaster, actually, for us.”

Mohebbi and Taremi said that FIFA president Gianni Infantino had visited their locker room after the 2-2 draw and promised to help. In his opening World Cup speech in Mexico City last week, Infantino said he would have driven a bus from Tehran, Iran’s capital, to get the team to the tournament after doubts about the participation grew following the United States-Israeli strikes on Iran in February.

Multiple players told The Athletic that their flight was in the hour after 11 p.m. Monday night. Their bus pulled out of SoFi Stadium at 10.07 p.m, about two hours after the match ended around 8 p.m.

It is unclear why the team is being forced to fly back to their base camp in Tijuana late Monday night into early Tuesday morning. Spokespeople for FIFA and the White House’s World Cup Task Force have been approached for comment.

Players and Ghalenoei also bemoaned that they were forced to travel to Los Angeles the day before the match, rather than two days prior, arriving the afternoon of Sunday, June 14.

“We get tired,” Mohebbi said. “This kind of thing I think is a little bit unfair, you know?”

Taremi, speaking about being forced to leave Los Angeles late Monday, said: “It’s not good for us, you know? It’s not good for the football, because in a World Cup, you have to prepare good for the next game, because it is a lot of stress for the players and staff and everyone. But we don’t have that support, and I think FIFA have to help us more than this.”

Taremi and Mohebbi said the restrictions, which Taremi seemed to imply stem from the U.S. government, are impacting their ability to compete at their best.

“We are happy to go back to the Mexican people in Tijuana, but from a technical perspective we should have stayed here this evening,” Ghalenoei said. “They are making the situation more and more difficult, more hurdles, but we are not gonna stop from doing our best.”

Taremi added: “It’s a bad situation, and we’re just tired of this situation, because from two months ago, last month, we have a lot of problems, you know? And it’s so bad, and it affects our team.”

Taremi and Mohebbi spoke together in front of a microphone in the “mixed zone,” a post-match interview area. A FIFA staffer repeatedly tried to end the interview after a few questions, but both players wanted to continue, and then spoke more with journalists after stepping down from the podium.

Taremi, asked multiple times about the source of the travel issues, refused to mention the U.S. by name but hinted that it was to blame.

When asked about Infantino — who he said visited with the team for around 10 minutes — Taremi said: “For sure, he wants to try to help us, but it’s about other things too. You know, everyone knows. (I don’t) need to mention that, because you know where we are.”

Mohebbi concluded: “This is not fair. … This is a tough atmosphere for us.”

Infantino attended Iran vs. New Zealand in Miami after being present for Belgium vs. Egypt in Seattle earlier on Monday.