U.S. defends FIFA World Cup visa limits for Iran national team

The U.S. pushed back on complaints from Iran’s national team that it was “forced to leave the country immediately” after its World Cup match in L.A. instead of having a day to recover in a hotel, with the U.S. saying that it “was the plan for the team all along,” according to Vertuno & Min Kim of the AP. White House World Cup Task Force Exec Dir Andrew Giuliani said, “We were clear this was the process.” Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei said after Monday’s match that the team had been “ordered to leave the U.S. and return to its training base in Mexico only a few hours later.” Ghalenoei said that the team had “expected to spend the night in California to maximize the normal recovery process after its opening game.” Iran MF Mehdi Torabi’s entry visa had also “expired after the first game.” Team officials confirmed Tuesday that they had “secured Torabi a new, multiple-entry visa after he visited the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana.” Giuliani told CBS News on Monday that “some of the Iranian team’s support staff and team officials were denied entry into the U.S.” But he noted that “all the players and coaches had received visas.” Giuliani said, “The team will be allowed to come in, match day minus one, so the day before the match. They’ll be asked to leave the day that the match wraps up, so the evening of the match” (AP, 6/16).

FAIR OR FOUL? In Birmingham, Joseph Goodman wrote these last few weeks for Iran’s soccer team “really have felt like global powers beyond their control are aligned to thwart Iran’s existence.” Goodman: “The United States government is trying its best to give the Iranians a hard time. Is it fair? Definitely not.” If the U.S. and FIFA are going to allow Iran to play in the World Cup, then it “shouldn’t come with stipulations on where the team can stay between games and how long the team can be on American soil.” Goodman: “The United States is at war with the Islamic Republic of Iran. The U.S. isn’t at war with the Iranian soccer team. If the U.S. is going to allow Iran to play in the tournament, then shouldn’t the U.S. be a little more hospitable?” (AL.com, 6/16).

SUPPORT SYSTEM: SLATE’s Jeremy Stahl wrote the Iranian soccer team is “one of the best in world soccer” and has “historically been beloved both in Iran and among the large Iranian diaspora that hates the regime for which the team plays.” This previously “unifying force” had become a “lightning rod prior to this week’s game, with boycotts and protests promised following the horror of January.” Stahl: “The question ahead of this match, for all Iran fans, was: Is it OK to cheer this team?” Inside L.A. Stadium on Monday, the answer “was very much yes.” Stahl: “Given the controversy around this team and the criminality of this regime, which won’t be going away anytime soon, Iran supporters will continue to wrestle with whether to provide that support over the next two games” (SLATE, 6/16).