Amir Ghalenoei decries “really terrible” treatment from the US; Iran can still qualify for knockouts despite Egypt draw
Iran head coach Amir Ghalenoei has urged Fifa president Gianni Infantino to prevent what happened to his squad at this World Cup from repeating itself in future.
Ghalenoei’s side drew 1-1 with Egypt in Seattle on Friday, which left them with a chance of qualifying for the knockouts as a third-placed team, despite the challenges they have had to face at the tournament.
Due to their nation’s conflict with the US, the Iran team were forced by the hosts to camp across the border in Tijuana, Mexico, flying into the US only a day before each game. Several members of their delegation were also unable to enter the US to support them because of visa issues.
Ghalenoei said Infantino had tried to help the team after visiting the dressing room following the opening match against New Zealand, when the Fifa president told the players: “You are stronger than everything.” However, the Iran coach argued that little had improved.
“I know Mr Infantino has tried his best to minimise the problems as much as possible but it was the host that wasn’t very good to us,” Ghalenoei said. “I urge Fifa to not let the hosts treat teams and players the same way in the future. I hope Mr Infantino will actually stand up to such behaviour.”
Captain Mehdi Taremi questioned Fifa’s handling of the situation and said the governing body had failed to resolve issues that had been evident since the start of the competition.
“Since the beginning, it’s a disaster World Cup,” said Taremi. “I mean, Fifa, they have to solve every problem here but unfortunately this they couldn’t solve since the beginning.
“Mr Infantino came to our changing room [after the] first game and he said: ‘It’s just the beginning.’ But [the] group stage finishes tomorrow and we don’t have our logistic people here, they don’t have a visa. How [is that] possible?”
Asked whether he believed Iran were being pushed out of the tournament, the Olympiakos forward said: “We have to fight against everything here. I don’t know what people want or know, but as we see it by our perspective, yeah, they’d like that, I think.”
Ghalenoei also criticised the travel demands placed on his players, who were due to return to Tijuana in the early hours of Saturday after being denied permission to remain in Seattle following the Egypt match.
“To my players and the team, I want to say to them I’m proud of them, what these young people, these players have done, it should be written in history because the host country treated us very unfairly,” Ghalenoei said.
“Had the host country allowed us to arrive two weeks earlier, we would have been more prepared. They were reasonable, rational demands. We would have been able to recover and be in better shape physically and mentally; however, they deprived us of that justice.
“When you play in a match, physically, scientifically, our bodies are at a low and when you suddenly go on a flight, that actually postpones your recovery.
“Their behaviour towards us has been really terrible and we hope the world will be aware of that.”
