Iranian Minister of Sport Ahmad Donyamali on Wednesday said that Iran would not take part in the FIFA World Cup being cohosted by the US, the clearest indication yet of the potential for a first withdrawal from global soccer’s showpiece event in the modern era.
While that has not officially happened, minds at FIFA must now address more urgently the prospect of having to replace Iran in the tournament that is to start in the US, Mexico and Canada in early June.
Donyamali said it would be impossible for Iran to take part after air attacks launched by the US and Israel on Feb. 28 killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, triggering a region-wide conflict.
Photo: AP
While it always seemed counterintuitive that Iran would take part in a World Cup while at war with one of the cohosts, FIFA on Tuesday were still clearly banking on them lining up for their first group game against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15.
Only a few hours before Donyamali’s statement, FIFA president Gianni Infantino trumpeted an assurance from US President Donald Trump that Iran were “welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States.”
A withdrawal would be governed by Article 6 of the World Cup regulations which, while stipulating a series of financial penalties for such a move, also states that FIFA would be at liberty to call up any nation it chooses to fill the void.
Jannik Sinner continued his quest to become the first man in history to win five Masters 1000 tournaments in a row with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Danish qualifier Elmer Moller at the Madrid Open on Sunday. The world leader extended his winning streak to 19 matches, a run that began early March in Indian Wells, and he has captured 24 consecutive victories at the Masters 1000 level, dating back to the Paris Masters last October. Searching for a maiden title at this level on clay, Sinner advanced to the round of 16 at the Caja Magica with a 77-minute performance against
When Paddy Dwyer arrived in China in 1976, crowds jostled to catch a glimpse of him and his companions — the first Western soccer team to play in the country. China was emerging from the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, and on the brink of market reforms that would take the country from economic stagnation to explosive growth. “All we could see was lines of people running beside our bus, trying to look in the windows, to see their first visual of a white person,” he said. “It was all bicycles,” he said. “There were very few cars to be seen.” Dwyer,
Tennis players are facing an unexpected opponent at the Madrid Open. A stomach virus or food poisoning has affected Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Marin Cilic and others, raising concerns. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka avoided an upset by Naomi Osaka on the court on Monday and said she is trying to avoid illness by sticking to a diet of chicken breasts, rice and salad. The rumor among the players was bad shrimp tacos were to blame. Sabalenka knocked on wood for luck and said, “So far, so good. I heard that I have to avoid those tacos,” she laughed, adding “I stick to the
Some of Clearlake Capital Group’s largest investors are growing increasingly concerned about how much time the company’s co-founders are spending on sports investments as they have struggled to complete the fundraising for the private equity firm’s latest flagship fund. One of Clearlake’s co-founders, Behdad Eghbali, has been spending what some investors described as a disproportionate amount of time on the firm’s investment in Chelsea Football Club in recent months. Now, co-founder Jose E. Feliciano and his wife, Kwanza Jones, are nearing a record US$3.9 billion deal to acquire the San Diego Padres. That personal investment by Feliciano has set off the latest
RSS