Iranian football federation president Mehdi Taj and two other officials were turned back at Toronto’s Pearson Airport
Football officials from Iran have been denied entry into Canada to participate in Thursday’s Fifa Congress in Vancouver, despite belief that the country will still play in the World Cup.
The Canadian minister for foreign affairs appeared to confirm reports that members of Iran’s delegation were turned away, although she described the situation as “unintentional”.
“It’s not my personal lead, but my understanding is that there is a revocation of the permission,” Anand said. “It was unintentional, but I’ll leave it to the [Immigration] minister [Lena Diab] to indicate.”
Iranian news agency Tasnim reported that president of their football federation Mehdi Taj and two other officials were denied entry at Toronto’s Pearson Airport, citing what it called “inappropriate behaviour of immigration officials”.
Another outlet in the country reported that Taj had initially been granted a visa before it was revoked due to alleged links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which Canada designates as a terrorist organisation.
In a statement, Diab’s office said visa applications are assessed individually but reiterated the government’s position that “IRGC officials are inadmissible to Canada and have no place in our country”.
The Fifa Congress is expected to bring together representatives from all 211 member associations. The meeting comes just weeks before the 2026 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico, and important matters concerning the competition will be discussed.
Both Iran and Fifa have maintained that their participation in the World Cup will go ahead despite suggestions in the US that they should be replaced.
