The Iranian Football Federation has made a bold move this week, calling on the Fdration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) to expel Israel from its soccer bodies.
This move comes in retaliation to Israel's military operations in June, aimed at curbing Iran's potential acquisition of nuclear weapons.
According to Breitbart, Mehdi Taj, the President of the Iranian Football Federation, penned a letter to FIFA officials, which was unveiled by Iranian state media on Tuesday. In the letter, Taj alleges that Israeli airstrikes on Iran in June led to the death of a soccer official and injuries to numerous players. However, he failed to identify the victims, and the Iranian Islamic regime has yet to provide evidence supporting these claims.
The letter also voiced apprehension about the United States co-hosting the 2026 World Cup. Iran, having already qualified for the world's most prestigious soccer tournament, would be required to participate in games on American soil if the team progresses beyond the round-robin stage. The World Cup final is slated to be held at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
In response to Iran's status as the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism, President Donald Trump imposed restrictions on Iranian nationals entering the United States this year. This could potentially impact the ability of players, coaches, and other staff to secure visas to enter America.
Taj reportedly addressed his letter to Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, senior vice-president of the FIFA Council. He emphasized his claim that the Israeli government was responsible for the death of an Iranian referee. "We wrote that a decision must be made on this matter. We also wrote to FIFA, itself, stating that Israel should be shown a red card and expelled from the body," Taj stated, as reported by the Iranian state propaganda website PressTV.
He further accused Israel of attacking Iran's territorial integrity, the Football Federation, the national team's training camp, and of martyring their referee.
The Israeli news outlet Ynet News reported that the letter accused Israel of "murdering Iranian athletes" and stated that 30 soccer players had been injured in the military attacks in June. Israel, which is part of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), has only qualified for the World Cup tournament once and is still playing qualifiers to secure a spot in the tournament.
In June, Israel launched "Operation Rising Lion" shortly after the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) disclosed evidence suggesting Iran was violating international law with its burgeoning uranium enrichment program. IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi informed the IAEA board that Iran was concealing nuclear development sites and "sanitizing" them to evade the agency's inspectors.
Operation Rising Lion resulted in the death of several of Iran's most prominent nuclear scientists, military planners, and terror officials. Among the highest-ranking to be eliminated was Major General Hossein Salami, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a formal arm of the Iranian military and a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.
The hostilities ceased shortly after the United States intervened. On June 21, President Donald Trump announced that he had approved airstrikes to obliterate Irans illicit nuclear enrichment sites at Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan. "Irans key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated," he declared.
In his letter to FIFA, Taj depicted America as a "hostile" country that would be an unsuitable host for the Iranian soccer team. He reportedly stated, "It is hostile toward our country and bears a deep-seated animosity. There is absolutely no doubt about this. No one should be optimistic [about its behavior]. They will carry out any act of mischief they are capable of."
While the PressTV report did not indicate that Taj suggested any action against the United States, he predicted that the Trump administration could deny visas to the national team or its staff. "There is also a chance they might try to humiliate us," he added.
The travel ban that raised concerns about Irans ability to participate in the World Cup includes exceptions for extraordinary circumstances, which some believe could be used for the Iranian soccer team. The World Cup draw is expected to commence in December.
FIFA has yet to publicly address the visa situation or comment on the Iranian letter. However, the global soccer organization has shown enthusiastic support for America as a World Cup host. FIFA President Gianni Infantino visited the White House in March for a ceremony to sign an executive order creating a federal-level task force on hosting the tournament.
Infantino compared hosting the World Cup to "three Super Bowls every day for one month," and stated, "The economic impact is 40 billion U.S. dollars between now and next year. We will create 200,000 jobs for these two World Cups. And more than that, we will give joy and happiness to the entire world."
President Trump has promised to attend the tournament and has pledged to deliver the "biggest, safest, and most extraordinary soccer tournament in history." This commitment to the World Cup is a testament to the President's dedication to promoting traditional values and individual freedom, key tenets of conservative ideology.
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