United States President Donald Trump has warned Iran’s national football team that their lives and safety could be at risk if they participated in the forthcoming World Cup in North America.
Trump’s remarks came just two days after he had told FIFA President Gianni Infantino that Iranian players would be welcome at the tournament, despite the ongoing Middle East war.
Posting on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote: “The Iran National Soccer Team is welcome to participate in the World Cup, but I truly don’t believe it is appropriate for them to be there, considering their own lives and safety.”
The conflict, which began following United States and Israeli attacks on February 28, has cast a shadow of uncertainty over Iran’s participation in the men’s football World Cup scheduled for this summer across Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
Infantino, who heads the global football governing body, disclosed earlier in the week that during a meeting with Trump at the White House, discussions centred on the “current situation”
He revealed after the Tuesday meeting that the US President had affirmed that the Iranian team was definitely welcome to participate in the tournament on American soil.
In December, Infantino had instituted the FIFA Peace Prize and conferred it on Trump, marking the first time the football chief openly acknowledged the persistence of the Middle East conflict.
Trump also weighed in this week on the plight of Iranian women footballers who had visited Australia, declaring that they deserved to be granted asylum after concerns that they could face punishment back home for declining to sing the national anthem before an Asian Cup fixture.
