Iran coach – Amir Ghalenoei says Team Melli’s World Cup treatment has been unethical, citing last-minute relocation and tight U.S. travel limits that cut training time before the Belgium match. With Iran tied in Group G, he also praises FIFA’s efforts while warning he hope
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Amir Ghalenoei walked into a news conference on Saturday, June 20, still sharp with anger about how his team has been handled at this World Cup.
He said even if billions of dollars were spent. it wouldn’t bring “justice” to his country. arguing the world’s reaction to Iran feels like oppression. His frustration sharpened into a concrete complaint about the logistics placed on Team Melli by U.S. government restrictions tied to political turmoil between the United States and Iran.
The team’s World Cup preparation has been shaped by constraints that forced a late move of its training base from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, Mexico. Even after that relocation, the team can only spend a certain amount of time in the United States before and after its matches.
Ghalenoei said Iran arrived in the United States less than 18 hours before Team Melli’s game against Belgium on Sunday, June 21—less time than it had before the first match. He added that the result was the team having to cut its training in half.
“Even if we spent billions of dollars, it will not be able to bring justice to our people. It just shows we are an oppressed country,” Ghalenoei said during that Saturday news conference.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has publicly defended Iran’s participation. Ghalenoei credited Infantino after a meeting in the locker room following Iran’s first game, saying FIFA did its “utmost” to help ease the restrictions. Still, he said the effort didn’t go far enough.
“I know FIFA is trying its best, so I thank them for that,” Ghalenoei said. “I just wish they had succeeded.”
Ghalenoei did acknowledge he had been told Iran could travel earlier for its final group-stage game against Egypt. That match is in Seattle, a further flight than the one to Los Angeles for Team Melli’s first two games.
“I only wish they’d allowed us to come earlier for the first two games,” Ghalenoei said. “They robbed us of all these opportunities.”
Inside Group G, Iran is in a four-way tie with all teams having played to draws in their first games. After the opener against New Zealand, Ghalenoei and midfielder Saeid Ezatolahi both pointed to mistakes, especially on defense. But they also said the team’s situation has affected its ability to prepare.
“You cannot deny that our situation has (not) been the same as all the other teams,” Ezatolahi said. “All the other teams have managed to focus on their planning, where we have had to spend so much time commuting.”
He contrasted Iran’s constraints with other teams’ travel setups. Curaçao’s training base is listed as Boca Raton, Florida, while its games are in Houston, Kansas City and Philadelphia. England is training in Kansas City, and plays its games in Dallas, Boston and New York/New Jersey.
Ghalenoei argued that those teams are not operating under the same clock. “But those teams aren’t on the clock like Iran is,” he said. “They can come and go when it suits them, whereas Team Melli has its travel dictated to them.”
The complaints extend beyond timing. Ghalenoei said Team Melli is without much of its support staff, including the head of the federation, because they were denied visas. He also said Iranian players’ families were not allowed to come.
“It should be ethical,” Ghalenoei said. “The way they behaved toward us has not been good.”
For Ghalenoei, the demand is simple: play soccer, without politics dragged into daily decisions. He said captains and players alike have wanted to avoid becoming a symbol in broader disputes.
All they want, he said, echoing what captain Mehdi Tameri said after the opener, is to play soccer. “They don’t want to be dragged into political spats, but they haven’t been given much choice.”
“Whatever we say, it’s nothing to do with politics. It’s just the behavior shown to us,” Ghalenoei said. “We’re only voicing this because we don’t want this behavior shown to other teams in the future.”
In the sequence of events he described—U.S. limits leading to a late training-base move, restricted U.S. time. an arrival window of less than 18 hours before Belgium. and training cut in half—Ghalenoei framed the issue as one that should not be treated as an acceptable norm. He said he hopes what Iran has endured does not become a template for other teams facing similar circumstances.
Iran World Cup Amir Ghalenoei Team Melli FIFA Gianni Infantino U.S. travel restrictions Belgium match June 21 Group G tie Saeid Ezatolahi Mehdi Tameri visas denied