Iran says it is being handled unfairly. Its World Cup journey schedule is not distinctive

Iran’s World Cup workforce says it is unfairly being made to journey to matches the day earlier than video games and return instantly after, however that schedule itself is not unusual amongst groups.

So how does it work, with 48 teams criss-crossing 16 cities throughout three international locations? Iran has been pressured to adjust to what White House FIFA activity drive head Andrew Giuliani stated have been previously mandated rules stemming from the conflict, however these restrictions additionally align with FIFA pointers for common workforce journey.

Team Melli made the 127-mile (204-kilometer) constitution flight from Tijuana International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport the day earlier than its opening 2-2 draw against New Zealand on Monday, a sometimes quick journey that workforce captain Mehdi Taremi stated as a substitute took 5 hours, together with safety and immigration checks.

Iran returned to Mexico proper after the match, which ended about 8 p.m. Pacific. The workforce had hoped to stave off journey for a day after the sport.

The workforce’s request to journey to LA two days earlier than Sunday’s match in opposition to Belgium was additionally denied, the federation stated late Thursday, including that it’s going to lodge a criticism with FIFA. In an announcement, the federation famous Sunday’s earlier kickoff — midday Pacific — and stated it believes “such restrictions are inconsistent with the principle of providing equal conditions for all participating teams and may negatively affect teams’ preparation processes.”

“We are the only team that are participating in the World Cup that we are at the host cities just 24 hours and it is not fair,” Iran soccer secretary-general Hedayat Mombeini stated by means of a translator Friday. “All these limitations on us, it has negative effects on our physical and mental things on our players.”

But the Iran workforce’s journey schedule itself isn’t uncommon for brief distances on this event. And FIFA’s 2026 World Cup laws state in Article 18.3 that “each team shall travel from its team base camp to the match venue one day before matchday (MD‑1) and in exceptional cases on MD‑2, and shall return to their team base camp after the match (on MD/MD+1).”

The restrictions on the Iran workforce haven’t been lifted regardless of an interim settlement to finish the conflict. Some workforce officers and assist employees have been unable to safe visas to the U.S., and participant Mehdi Torabi needed to go to the U.S. consulate in Tijuana to get a brand new visa after the primary match.

Many groups have been arriving in host cities the day earlier than their matches. For Friday’s group-stage match in opposition to Australia, the U.S. made the roughly 980-mile (1,580-kilometer) flight from their base in Orange County, California, to Seattle on Thursday. The workforce supposed to return to its resort in Laguna Niguel after the match.

Some CONCACAF groups most popular to reach on the day earlier than video games for World Cup qualifiers at Mexico City, the place sports activities efficiency specialists advise gamers will not have time to acclimatize to the altitude so ought to get there as near kickoff as potential.

Bosnia-Herzegovina has the longest group stage journey, at 5,878 miles (9,460 kilometers) in complete. The Dragons had a roughly 1,660-mile (2,670-kilometer) flight every approach from Salt Lake City to Toronto, 590 miles (950 kilometers) to Los Angeles and 690 miles (1,110 kilometers) to Seattle.

Bosnia’s journey is much shorter than the 9,000-mile (14,484-kilometer) trek for the U.S. at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the longest among the many 32 nations. The Americans went from their base camp in Sao Paulo to Natal, a distance of 1,436 miles (2,311 kilometers), three days earlier than their opener in opposition to Ghana. They made the 1,832-mile (2,948-kilometer) journey to Manaus two days earlier than of their sport in opposition to Portugal and the 1,321-mile (2,126-kilometer) journey to Recife two days in entrance of their match in opposition to Germany.

Four years in the past in Qatar, all stadiums have been inside 31 miles (50 kilometers) of downtown Qatar, enabling for groups to remain in a single resort all through the event.

___

AP World Cup protection: