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The White House has defended its handling of Iran's visa restrictions during the ongoing FIFA World Cup, with top official Andrew Giuliani saying that the Iranian squad's decision to change its tournament base from the US to Tijuana in Mexico proved to be beneficial for both parties.
Iran ended their WC campaign with a third-place in Group G, with three draws in three games against Egypt, Belgium and New Zealand, including a brave goalless draw against Belgium, one of the strongest sides of the tournament. Iran's WC campaign was also marked by a lot of controversies. Iran's participation in the tournament had been in doubt for months after the United States and Israel launched airstrikes on the country in February. Earlier, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said that Iran's football team was treated in what he described as the "most politicised" manner during the FIFA World Cup 2026, according to Al Jazeera. Iran also moved their World Cup base camp from Arizona to Tijuana in Mexico before the start of the tournament, following uncertainty surrounding travel and entry arrangements in the United States. They had requested FIFA to relocate their games outside the US to no avail. Following his side's 1-1 draw against Egypt in their final league stage match, Iran head coach Amir Ghalenoei urged FIFA president Gianni Infantino to "stand up" to the USA, saying that their behaviour towards the Iranian team was "really terrible" and hurt them "physically and mentally".Iran also faced logistical challenges throughout the tournament, with several members of their support staff unable to obtain visas, forcing the squad to operate without key personnel. They were also asked to come a day before the match and leave immediately after its completion on the same day. Now, after months of controversy, Giulani, the Executive Director of the Task Force put in place for the World Cup, said to reporters on Wednesday, as quoted by Reuters, "It is important to point out that the Iranians chose to go to Tijuana. We were happy with that choice." "I think the Mexicans were very happy with that choice. I think the Iranians, as they said, were very happy with that choice as well." "I think what we tried to do here on the White House Task Force was apply common sense to making sure the athletes could have fair play on the pitch," he continued. Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, had said that her government allowed Iran to stay in Mexico during the WC, adding that the US did not want to host them. Giuliani added that the decision made sure that no one connected to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) entered the United States using WC as an excuse. Giuliani also defended the move to have Iran enter the US just a day before the match and leave the country immediately after its conclusion, citing logistical parity. "In Los Angeles, they were able to come a day early for the match. For comparison's sake, the U.S. was in Orange County. They took a bus ride, a longer bus ride than the flight was for the Iranians," he said. The restrictions on the Iran team were eased for their final league stage match at Seattle as they were given entry into the US two days before the game. To this, the official said that, "For Seattle, it was two days because we knew that flight was a little over three hours. So we wanted to make sure they had that extra day so we could achieve the parity." Later on, as the tournament concluded for Iran, the team thanked the Tijuana people for their hospitality, calling them "our second home and our second team" (ANI)
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