Iran coach blasts 'oppressed' treatment at World Cup
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- Iran drew 2-2 with New Zealand at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., in their politically charged World Cup opener before a crowd of 70,108
- Amir Ghalenoei said his team is "perhaps the most oppressed team in the whole World Cup" after being told to leave the US immediately after Monday's match and return to their Tijuana camp
- Iran's base camp was relocated to Tijuana from Arizona weeks before the tournament, and the team was originally scheduled to fly to the US two days before each game and depart the day after
- Mehdi Taremi said FIFA president Gianni Infantino visited the locker room after the game, and expressed frustration that Iran football federation president Mehdi Taj and other support staff were barred from traveling to the US
- Andrew Giuliani, the White House World Cup task force executive director, pushed back on the criticism, saying the US "has been more than fair" by issuing visas for all 31 players and every coach, while also noting "there were visas revoked by the State Department"
- Iran fans displayed pre-revolutionary lion-and-sun flags at the game despite FIFA banning them, a ruling upheld in an emergency hearing the morning of the match
- All four Group G teams drew their opening games Monday, leaving them level on one point each going into the second round of fixtures
Why it matters: The forced immediate departure and the barring of federation support staff from entering the US impose real logistical and recovery costs on a team already navigating extraordinary political tension as the first nation to play a World Cup in a country it is at war with, potentially affecting their preparation for the group stage that includes Belgium, Egypt, and Mohamed Salah.
