Iran captain Mehdi Taremi, midfielder Mohammad Mohebi, and head coach Amir Ghalenoei hit out at Fifa and hinted at resentment toward the US government after being told they needed to leave Los Angeles immediately after Monday night’s 2-2 draw against New Zealand in the World Cup.
“Everything is like disaster, actually, for us,” said Taremi, who added that Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, visited the team in the dressing room and they expressed their concerns to him directly.
Ghalenoei said the way they have been treated by Fifa makes them “the most oppressed” team at the tournament.
“After the game today they said to us, ‘You have to leave immediately,’” Ghalenoi said. “Whereas today it’s very important for us to have recovery.
“We’ve been asked to get on a plane and return to our camp in Tijuana and we are really troubled by that. They are forcing us to go back early. They are making the situation more and more difficult, more hurdles, but we’re not going to let that stop us from doing our best.
“We don’t know why they’re returning us, to be honest. I think it’s very strange. It seems like others are doing the planning for us … We were supposed to arrive two nights before the game but they didn’t permit [it]. We were supposed to stay here tonight to recover and return tomorrow lunchtime.
“I think our team is the most oppressed one in the whole World Cup. Our federation isn’t here, our media isn’t here, our management isn’t here.”
Taremi criticized a logistical situation that has seen the team forced to abandon their planned training base in Tucson, Arizona weeks before the tournament, instead training across the border in Tijuana, Mexico and flying in to the US shortly before games.
The team moved its training base to avoid immigration concerns that turned out to be well founded – after arriving in Mexico, 15 of the team’s support staff were denied visas to enter the US, where all of Iran’s group stage games are taking place. That number was later reduced to 11 after some visas were approved.
The team still arrived in Los Angeles minus both of their media officers, some analysts, and federation president, Mehdi Taj. Another analyst for the team served as a stand-in media aide for Taremi and Mohebi’s appearance, which a Fifa official repeatedly attempted to stop as both players continued answering questions.
“I think it’s not good for the football,” Taremi said. “In [the] World Cup, you have to prepare good for the next game, which is a lot of stress for the players and the staff and everyone. But we don’t have that support, and I think Fifa have to help us more than this. Let’s see what’s going to happen in the future.”
Iran faced delays in their travel from Tijuana to Los Angeles, a short trip that Taremi said took five hours. He did not specify what caused the delays, but it was understood that the immigration process was the main cause.
Taremi and Mohebi said being forced to leave immediately afterward would negatively affect the players’ performance at the tournament.
“It’s supposed to be: tomorrow morning recovery, then we fly to Tijuana, then we return to LA again, but right now we have to go back,” Taremi said.
Mohebi added: “Yesterday we came, started the trip in the morning, and we arrive [in the] afternoon, and we directly go to train, and we get tired, you know? I think [it wa] supposed to be, we come here two days before the game. This kind of deal, I think, is not fair … we’re going to get fatigued – hamstring, lower back, glutes …”
By contrast, Ghalenoei praised the warmth of co-hosts Mexico and many Mexicans were in attendance supporting Iran at the Los Angeles Stadium.
“The Mexican people, the Mexican government, especially the people in Tijuana, made us feel at home,” he said.
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