FIFA Secretary General Reportedly to Meet with Iranian Football Officials to Discuss World Cup

(Central News Agency, Istanbul, 16th, Comprehensive Foreign Report) A source familiar with the talks indicated that FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom will meet with officials from the Iranian Football Federation in Istanbul today to provide "assurances" to the Iranian side regarding their participation in the World Cup.

Reuters reported that Iran is scheduled to play its three World Cup group stage matches in the United States. However, since a joint US-Israeli attack on Iran at the end of February, the team's ability to participate in the tournament, held from June 11 to July 19, has been questioned.

Further questions arose when the president of the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI), Mehdi Taj, was denied entry to Canada earlier this month when he traveled to attend a FIFA Global Congress, due to his links with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

This year's World Cup is co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The US and Canada have listed the IRGC as a "terrorist organization" and have explicitly stated that individuals associated with it will not be allowed entry.

Iran is scheduled to begin its World Cup group stage with a match against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15. (Translator: Kao Chao-fen / Editor: Liu Shu-chin) 1150516