Soccer-Iran to boycott World Cup draw over US visa issues

By Ahmad ElGhannam and Mohamed Yossry

Nov 28 (Reuters) - Iran is to boycott next week's draw for the 2026 soccer World Cup in the United States in protest at the limited allocation of visas, the Iranian football federation said on Friday.

"The Iranian delegation will not be present for the World Cup draw in relation to the latest status of issuing visas for the Iranian delegation to attend the draw ceremony", federation spokesman Amir Mehdi Alavi was quoted as saying by Iranian sports news website Tarafdari.

The United States has long-standing strict visa restrictions on Iranians for political and security reasons.

Alavi was quoted as saying that the U.S. had granted visas to four members of the Iranian delegation, including head coach Amir Ghalenoei, but had not granted a visa to Iranian Football Federation President Mehdi Taj.

Alavi added the decision followed what Iran described as "unsportsmanlike actions" by U.S. authorities relating to the December 5 draw in Washington DC. "Given that the decisions taken are unsportsmanlike and the path has deviated from the sporting process, it was decided that the Iranian delegation will not attend the draw ceremony," he was quoted as saying.

The federation said it had been in contact with FIFA for two days and informed president Gianni Infantino and the secretary general. "FIFA has said it will follow up on the matter seriously," Tarafdari reported Alavi as saying.

Alavi did not immediately response to a Reuters request for comment.

Iran secured qualification for the World Cup in March after a 2-2 draw with Uzbekistan in Tehran, sealing a seventh appearance at the tournament and fourth in a row.