Amir Ghalenoei, the head coach of Iran’s national football team, has urged FIFA President Gianni Infantino to advocate for fairness, claiming that the United States, as co-hosts, have treated his team unjustly.
Iran is on the verge of advancing to the knockout stage of the World Cup for the first time, contingent on the results in the coming days. However, following a frustrating 1-1 draw against Egypt in Seattle, where a late goal from Shoja Khalilzadeh was disallowed for offside and Saeid Ezatolah struck the crossbar, the team’s dissatisfaction extended beyond just the result.
After the opening match in Group G against New Zealand, Infantino visited the Iranian locker room, encouraging players with the words, “you are stronger than everything” Despite Ghalenoei acknowledging Infantino’s efforts to help, he feels that little has improved since the tournament began. Previously, he described Iran as the “I know Mr Infantino has tried his best to minimise the problems as much as possible but it was the host that wasn’t very good to us,” team in the World Cup.
“I urge Fifa to not let the hosts treat teams and players the same way in the future. I hope Mr Infantino will actually stand up to such behaviour.” Ghalenoei stated during the post-match press conference. “Since the beginning, it’s a disaster World Cup. I mean, Fifa, they have to solve every problem here but unfortunately this they couldn’t solve since the beginning. Mr Infantino came to our changing room [after the] first game and he said: ‘It’s just the beginning.’ But [the] group stage finishes tomorrow and we don’t have our logistic people here, they don’t have a visa. How [is that] possible?”
Captain Mehdi Taremi also voiced his frustration regarding FIFA’s handling of the situation, particularly the refusal to grant entry to eleven senior officials into the United States. He remarked, “We have to fight against everything here. I don’t know what people want or know, but as we see it by our perspective, yeah, they’d like that, I think.”
When asked whether there was a feeling that the US and FIFA wanted Iran to exit the tournament, the Olympiakos player replied, “To my players and the team, I want to say to them I’m proud of them, what these young people, these players have done, it should be written in history because the host country treated us very unfairly. “Had the host country allowed us to arrive two weeks earlier, we would have been more prepared. They were reasonable, rational demands. We would have been able to recover and be in better shape physically and mentally however they deprived us of that justice. “When you play in a match, physically, scientifically, our bodies are at a low and when you suddenly go on a flight, that actually postpones your recovery and this is the third time they are doing this to us, we have to leave from here to the airport and we have to return to Tijuana and it will take us some three hours. “Their behaviour towards us has been really terrible and we hope the world will be aware of that. They didn’t let us come two weeks earlier and two days earlier before every game. This has really hurt us. And we had a war as well. Despite all of these problems, we’ve been able to perform well and the world is proud of Iranians and our team. I think that’s our greatest achievement despite all the obstacles and the hurdles they put in our way.”
The team was expected to arrive in Tijuana, Mexico, where they are currently based after being compelled to relocate their training site before the tournament, around 3am on Saturday, having been denied permission to stay in Seattle. Ghalenoei added, “If a player asks to be substituted, it means he felt something,”
“Had the host country allowed us to arrive two weeks earlier, we would have been more prepared. They were reasonable, rational demands. We would have been able to recover and be in better shape physically and mentally; however, they deprived us of that justice.
“When you play in a match, physically, scientifically, our bodies are at a low and when you suddenly go on a flight, that actually postpones your recovery. This is the third time they are doing this to us. We have to leave from here to the airport and we have to return to Tijuana; it will take us around three hours.
“I talked to Salah and he said he’s going to be OK and it’s not a big injury. We still have time to talk to the medical staff, I think he will be back and when I spoke to Salah he assured me he’s going to be OK.”
In contrast, Hossam Hassan, the head coach of Egypt, played down worries regarding their captain, Mohamed Salah, missing the crucial last-32 match against Australia in Dallas. Salah had requested to be substituted nearing the hour mark. “If a player asks to be substituted, it means he felt something,” Hassan noted. “I talked to Salah and he said he’s going to be OK and it’s not a big injury. We still have time to consult with the medical staff; I think he will be back and when I spoke to Salah he assured me he’s going to be OK.”
