Mattias Grafstrom, FIFA Secretary General described the meeting held on Saturday in Istanbul as constructive and excellent. The meeting was with the Iranian federation.
The agenda of the meeting was to ensure the participation of Iran in the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Iran will be playing all of its three group matches in the US despite the war that was waged in the middle east.
Grafstrom said, “We’ve had an excellent meeting, a constructive meeting together with the Iranian FA.”
“I think we’re working closely together and looking very much forward to welcoming them to the World Cup.”
“We’ve had the opportunity to discuss some of the operational matters, as we do with every member association.”
“But I’m very happy that we were able to have this positive exchange, and both the Iran federation and FIFA are very happy with the meeting and looking forward to welcoming Team Melli in the USA, Canada and Mexico.”
Interestingly on Thursday the President of Iranian Football federation, Mehdi Taj had said that visas for the Iranian team had not been issued yet.
However, he also described the meeting on Saturday as a constructive and positive meeting. He did not reveal any details.
He said, “We discussed our concerns and expressed our joint commitment to ensure the smooth participation of Team Melli.”
The venue for the meeting was the headquarters of Turkish Football Federation. On Monday the Iranian team plans to leave for a training camp in Turkey. After that they will head to the United States.
Iran will be playing 2 friendly matches in Antalya.
To Turkey Iran will be taking a squad of 30 players. The squad will then be trimmed to 26 players for the World Cup.
