GULF 14H AGO Source: The Arab Weekly
World Cup set to start under the shadow of visa restrictions, Iran war
World Cup set to start under the shadow of visa restrictions, Iran war The 48-team FIFA World Cup begins Thursday and runs through July 19 with matches in the US, Mexico and Canada. Monday 08/06/2026 Members of the national guard look on as the Iran team arrives at Tijuana International Airport, Tijuana, Mexico – June 7, 2026. GENEVA “Many” Iranian and African journalists have been denied the necessary visas to cover the World Cup in the United States, according to the International Sports Press Association. The association sent a letter on Friday to Bryan Swanson, FIFA’s director of media relations, and Jochen Steinhoff, the soccer governing body’s head of media operations and services. “We find ourselves facing a long-standing and unacceptable problem for us journalists: the denial of entry visas to regularly accredited colleagues,” association president Gianni Merlo wrote, per The Athletic. “There are many cases: Iranian colleagues, African colleagues, some of whom have been given single entries, so if their team goes to play in Canada or Mexico and they follow it, they can no longer return to the States. The cases are countless and, I repeat, unacceptable. Politicians always say that sport unites and builds bridges between young people in countries in conflict, but in this case, we are going in the opposite direction. “We believe it is important to allow colleagues to attend the event and work, because their presence will be crucial to the image of sport and what it represents, especially in a country like the United States of America, where freedom of the press is a must. “I hope FIFA can do everything possible to secure visas. We’re already significantly behind schedule, and many colleagues have already lost the opportunity to use plane tickets booked on time, and they’ll also face significant additional expenses.” The 48-team FIFA World Cup begins Thursday and runs through July 19 with matches in the US, Mexico and Canada. Iran is competing in the tournament despite an ongoing armed conflict with the US. African teams in the field include Algeria, Cape Verde, DR Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia. A record number of eight Arab countries are taking part in the FIFA tournament. Beside Morocco, Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, and Jordan , are also competing in the World Cup. According ABC News a photographer travelling with the Iraqi national football team was refused entry at Chicago O’Hare International Airport on Friday. Two people with the team were subjected to “additional inspection.” One of them was the Iraq’s World Cup striker Aymen Hussein. He was allowed entry into the US after being questioned for about seven hours. According to US customs, the photographer was determined to be “inadmissible” and was denied entry “due to classified information in accordance with US law.” Several teams and their supporters, including Ivory Coast and Tunisia, require multi-entry visas because they have games scheduled in the United States as well as in Canada or Mexico. Iran’s national football team arrived in Tijuana early on Sunday ahead of three World Cup matches in the United States, amid tensions that have turned the world’s biggest sporting event into a soft-power contest between the warring countries. Iran are scheduled to play their first two Group G games near Los Angeles, against New Zealand on June 15 and Belgium on June 21, and then face Egypt in Seattle on June 26. Iran and the US could meet in the round of 32 if both teams come second in their groups. After weeks of uncertainty, the US awarded visas to all the players on Friday, just 10 days before their first match. But several members of the Iranian squad were not given visas, including “key managerial and administrative members,” according to Iran’s football federation, which accused the US of breaching its host obligations and violating FIFA regulations. Iran said 15 of the 70 members of the party who arrived in Tijuana on Sunday had not been given visas to enter the US. A file picture shows Iraqi striker Aymen Hussein arriving before the Iraq-Bolivia match in Estadio Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico, on March 31, 2026
World Cup set to start under the shadow of visa restrictions, Iran war The 48-team FIFA World Cup begins Thursday and runs through July 19 with matches in the US, Mexico and Canada. Monday 08/06/2026 Members of the national guard look on as the Iran team arrives at Tijuana International Airport, Tijuana, Mexico – June 7, 2026. GENEVA “Many” Iranian and African journalists have been denied the necessary visas to cover the World Cup in the United States, according to the International Sports Press Association. The association sent a letter on Friday to Bryan Swanson, FIFA’s director of media relations, and Jochen Steinhoff, the soccer governing body’s head of media operations and services. “We find ourselves facing a long-standing and unacceptable problem for us journalists: the denial of entry visas to regularly accredited colleagues,” association president Gianni Merlo wrote, per The Athletic. “There are many cases: Iranian colleagues, African colleagues, some of whom have been given single entries, so if their team goes to play in Canada or Mexico and they follow it, they can no longer return to the States. The cases are countless and, I repeat, unacceptable. Politicians always say that sport unites and builds bridges between young people in countries in conflict, but in this case, we are going in the opposite direction. “We believe it is important to allow colleagues to attend the event and work, because their presence will be crucial to the image of sport and what it represents, especially in a country like the United States of America, where freedom of the press is a must. “I hope FIFA can do everything possible to secure visas. We’re already significantly behind schedule, and many colleagues have already lost the opportunity to use plane tickets booked on time, and they’ll also face significant additional expenses.” The 48-team FIFA World Cup begins Thursday and runs through July 19 with matches in the US, Mexico and Canada. Iran is competing in the tournament despite an ongoing armed conflict with the US. African teams in the field include Algeria, Cape Verde, DR Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia. A record number of eight Arab countries are taking part in the FIFA tournament. Beside Morocco, Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, and Jordan , are also competing in the World Cup. According ABC News a photographer travelling with the Iraqi national football team was refused entry at Chicago O’Hare International Airport on Friday. Two people with the team were subjected to “additional inspection.” One of them was the Iraq’s World Cup striker Aymen Hussein. He was allowed entry into the US after being questioned for about seven hours. According to US customs, the photographer was determined to be “inadmissible” and was denied entry “due to classified information in accordance with US law.” Several teams and their supporters, including Ivory Coast and Tunisia, require multi-entry visas because they have games scheduled in the United States as well as in Canada or Mexico. Iran’s national football team arrived in Tijuana early on Sunday ahead of three World Cup matches in the United States, amid tensions that have turned the world’s biggest sporting event into a soft-power contest between the warring countries. Iran are scheduled to play their first two Group G games near Los Angeles, against New Zealand on June 15 and Belgium on June 21, and then face Egypt in Seattle on June 26. Iran and the US could meet in the round of 32 if both teams come second in their groups. After weeks of uncertainty, the US awarded visas to all the players on Friday, just 10 days before their first match. But several members of the Iranian squad were not given visas, including “key managerial and administrative members,” according to Iran’s football federation, which accused the US of breaching its host obligations and violating FIFA regulations. Iran said 15 of the 70 members of the party who arrived in Tijuana on Sunday had not been given visas to enter the US. A file picture shows Iraqi striker Aymen Hussein arriving before the Iraq-Bolivia match in Estadio Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico, on March 31, 2026