Iran to lodge complaint with Fifa over World Cup restrictions

TIJUANA: Iran’s World Cup team will lodge a complaint with Fifa claiming they are being subjected to travel restrictions during the tournament in North America, the Iranian football federation spokesman said on Thursday.

“Despite having submitted its preparation schedule for the tournament well in advance, Iran’s national football team has once again encountered restrictions imposed by the organisers, affecting the implementation of its technical staff’s plans,” the spokesman said.

Iran wanted to fly from their base camp in Tijuana, Mexico, to the US two days before their next match, against Belgium in Los Angeles on Sunday.

But the Iranian federation claims its request was turned down.

“Given that the game will be played at 12pm local time in Los Angeles, the Football Federation of Iran requested that the team be allowed to travel to Los Angeles two days before the match,” the spokesman said.

“The aim was to provide sufficient time for players to adapt to the match conditions, complete their final training session, and finalise preparations.

“Despite the technical reasons presented by the federation, the request was once again denied.”