Ahmad Donyamali, the minister of sports in Iran, stated on Wednesday that their nation will not be able to compete in the 2026 World Cup because the United States, along with Israel, committed airstrikes against the nation, killing their supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Nearly two weeks ago, the United States and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran, murdering the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic and sparking a war in the Gulf region.
Earlier, Iran’s football chief, Mehdi Taj, had talked about the possibility of boycotting the tournament. The fact that their association is continuously assessing the situation was reaffirmed when discussing the ongoing situation in the region. He also stressed the fact that it is hard to look forward to any developments with any hope, given the current state of affairs.
Iran’s sports minister confirms that Iran won’t participate in FIFA World Cup 2026
“Considering that this corrupt regime has assassinated our leader, under no circumstances can we participate in the World Cup,” the minister told state television.
The World Cup will be held in the United States, Mexico, and Canada from June 11 to July 19.
“Our children are not safe and, fundamentally, such conditions for participation do not exist,” Donyamali said.
“Given the malicious actions they have carried out against Iran, they have forced two wars on us over eight or nine months and have killed and martyred thousands of our people. Therefore, we certainly cannot have such a presence.”
In the draw last December, the Iranians were grouped with Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand. All three of their Group G matches were scheduled to take place in the U.S., two in Los Angeles and one in Seattle.
Iran was the only nation missing from a FIFA planning summit for World Cup participants held last week in Atlanta.
(With Agency Inputs)
