Iran's World Cup team will lodge a complaint with FIFA claiming they are being subjected to travel restrictions during the tournament in North America, the Iranian football federation spokesman said on Thursday.
Despite having submitted its preparation schedule for the tournament well in advance, Iran's national football team has once again encountered restrictions imposed by the organizers, affecting the implementation of its technical staff's plans.
The Iranian federation said its request to fly from their base camp in Tijuana, Mexico, to the United States two days before their next match, against Belgium in Los Angeles on Sunday, was turned down.
Iran wanted to provide sufficient time for players to adapt to the match conditions, complete their final training session, and finalize preparations.
However, the US administration has pushed back against the Iranian claims, saying that Iran had been informed in advance that they would be allowed to come into the United States only on the day before the game.
Andrew Giuliani, the executive director of the White House FIFA Task Force, said that the procedure would be the same for Iran's final group game against Egypt in Seattle on June 26.
