Iran says ‘certainly not’ will it take part following the US-Israeli assaults that killed its supreme chief.
Revealed On 11 Mar 2026
Iran can’t take part within the FIFA World Cup after the United States killed its Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, says the nation’s sports activities minister Ahmad Donyamali.
“Contemplating that this corrupt regime [the US] has assassinated our chief, certainly not can we take part in the World Cup,” the minister informed state tv on Wednesday.
The US will co-host the World Cup with Canada and Mexico, however all of Iran’s group-stage fixtures are allotted to American cities, together with Los Angeles and Seattle.
“Our kids usually are not secure and, basically, such situations for participation don’t exist,” Donyamali stated.
“Given the malicious actions they’ve carried out towards Iran, they’ve compelled two wars on us over eight or 9 months and have killed and martyred 1000’s of our folks. Subsequently, we definitely can’t have such a presence.”
It’s the first time an official from the Iranian authorities has spoken on the nation’s participation within the world match for the reason that US and Israel launched their assaults on the nation on February 28.
The top of the Iranian Soccer Federation solid doubt on his staff’s participation final week, however didn’t say the staff would boycott the match.
“After this assault [on Iran], we can’t be anticipated to stay up for the World Cup with hope,” Mehdi Taj, president of the Soccer Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI), stated on March 1.
“If the World Cup is like this, who of their proper thoughts would ship their nationwide staff to a spot like this?” Taj requested on Iranian state tv.
Iran was the primary nation to safe qualification for the World Cup, which runs from June 11 to July 19.
