Iran says – Iran’s football federation says its World Cup ticket allocation was withdrawn days before the tournament begins, leaving supporters—who had planned travel based on an announced process—unable to attend matches. The complaint comes as the U.S. and Israel’s late
On a countdown where every day matters, Iran says the ground has been cut out from under its supporters.
Iran’s football federation said Tuesday that its ticket allocation for the World Cup was pulled just days before the tournament starts. leaving fans who had already made travel plans unable to attend matches for their team. The World Cup begins on Thursday. with Iran playing its first two Group G games in Los Angeles—against New Zealand on June 15 and Belgium on June 21—before facing Egypt in Seattle on June 26.
In a statement, the Iranian federation, FFIRI, said it had already begun the ticket sales process for the matches but could no longer provide tickets to fans.
“It is despite the fact that many Iranian football fans. relying on the officially announced process. had already made the necessary plans to attend the matches. ” the FFIRI said. It added that depriving supporters of access to what it called its “lawful and official allocation of tickets” runs counter to the spirit of international competitions and the principle of equality among participating countries.
The federation also accused interference outside sport, saying the development “raises serious questions” about non-sporting and political considerations influencing the organization of the world’s biggest football event.
At the World Cup, each participating federation receives 8% of tickets for each of its matches to be allocated to fans using its own criteria.
The FFIRI did not say who made the decision to withhold the tickets, but it urged FIFA—the tournament’s governing body—to follow “the principles of neutrality, fairness, and established regulations,” and to prevent off-field disputes from casting a shadow over the competition.
FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The dispute over tickets sits inside a broader, tense set of uncertainties around Iran’s participation in the tournament. Iran’s presence has been clouded since the U.S. and Israel launched air strikes on the Islamic Republic in late February, setting off a regional conflict.
FFIRI said the team negotiated to move its base camp from Arizona to Mexico because of uncertainty over whether U.S. visas would be granted, along with a growing sense inside Iran that the squad’s presence in the United States should be kept to a minimum.
After weeks of uncertainty, the U.S. awarded visas to all the players last week—10 days before Iran’s first match—but several members of staff did not receive them. A U.S. official told Reuters on Friday that the administration had issued “the visas necessary for Iran to compete in the World Cup.”
Earlier Tuesday, FIFA said Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom held a “positive discussion” with FFIRI President Mehdi Taj after the team arrived at its tournament base in Mexico.
“With the team now in Mexico, FIFA will continue dialogue and collaboration with the FFIRI to ensure the team and the delegation’s experience is a positive one,” Grafstrom said in a statement.
The scheduling crunch is now colliding with the logistics reality for fans. Iran’s claim is that a process announced in advance—one that allowed supporters to commit time and money—has been undone days before kickoff. And for people whose access to matches is tied to allocations meant to be governed by rules. the federation’s demand for neutrality lands with urgency. not abstraction.
As FIFA weighs the request for clarity, the World Cup starts Thursday—with Iran’s first match in Los Angeles just days away and the federation insisting its ticket pathway has been blocked after it had already begun the sales process.
Iran World Cup tickets FFIRI FIFA Mattias Grafstrom Mehdi Taj Group G Los Angeles Seattle U.S. visas Mexico base camp
So they took the tickets back like a week before? That’s messed up.
I don’t get it. If there was an announced process, how does the whole thing just get yanked days before? Poor fans already booked flights and hotels…
Wait is this the US fault or Israel or FIFA? The article mentions U.S. and Israel like at the end but then it’s Iran saying stuff got cut out. Also 8% tickets like every country gets the same thing right? So why would “equality” even be an issue unless someone’s cheating.
Every World Cup year it turns into politics. Like can’t they just let people go watch football? If Iran started selling tickets then suddenly stopped, that’s on somebody internal too, not just “outside sport interference.” Also Los Angeles, Seattle, blah blah… people probably thought it was official and now they’re stuck at home. Honestly I’m surprised FIFA didn’t already have a plan for this kind of thing.