Iran makes World Cup progress in talks with Infantino as war darkens June trip to US
Iranian soccer had a good week on its troubled path to playing World Cup games in the United States in June. A first face-to-face meeting with FIFA President Gianni Infantino since the U. S.
and Israel started a war against Iran on Feb. 28 made genuine progress in soccer diplomacy at the end of a fraught month. The Iranian soccer federation's upbeat readout of the meeting in Turkey made no mention of moving World Cup games to Mexico — a subject Infantino has repeatedly shut down for the past two weeks.
Iranian soccer had a good week on its troubled path to playing World Cup games in the United States in June. A first face-to-face meeting with FIFA President Gianni Infantino since the U. S.
and Israel started a war against Iran on Feb. 28 made genuine progress in soccer diplomacy at the end of a fraught month. The Iranian soccer federation's upbeat readout of the meeting in Turkey made no mention of moving World Cup games to Mexico — a subject Infantino has repeatedly shut down for the past two weeks.
Infantino also offered tangible help for the squad to prepare for the World Cup in the next two months. Most Iran players are with clubs in the national league that has shut down during the war. Iran's World Cup hosts in Arizona said this week they were pressing on with training camp upgrades plus local and federal security plans — echoing the “stick to the schedule” mantra FIFA has used.
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