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After the Iranian minister’s threats… What does the FIFA statute say about the World Cup?
Iran’s Sports Minister Ahmad Deniyamali’s threats to pull his country’s national team out of the 2026 World Cup have sparked controversy, but what sanctions will FIFA impose if the Asian team carries out its threats?
Dunyamali told the Iranian “Varzesh 3” website.The Iranian authorities have informed FIFA that the delegation of the national team will leave the stadium as soon as political slogans are raised during the games.“.
Iran’s national team enters the World Cup under tension off the pitch, given the ongoing military war with the United States of America since last February, which has cast a shadow over the Iranian delegation’s residence and travel arrangements.
The national team of Iran is in the seventh group, next to which the teams of Egypt, Belgium and New Zealand are included.
The Asian team will open its group matches with New Zealand at dawn next Tuesday, then on the evening of June 21, it will meet with Belgium, and on the morning of the 27th of the same month, it will finish the matches against the Egyptian national team.
What does the FIFA statute say about withdrawal?
Article 6 of the FIFA 2026 World Cup Regulations states that “all participating member associations undertake to play all their matches at the 2026 World Cup until they have officially withdrawn from the tournament”.
According to the same article, any participating member association that withdraws from the tournament 30 days or more before the first leg of the finals will be fined not less than 250,000 Swiss francs by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee.
If any participating member association withdraws 30 days before the date of the first match of the finals, it will be fined by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee of not less than 500,000 Swiss francs.
In the event that any member association participating in the tournament is not admitted, is withdrawn from it or withdraws after it has started, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee may impose additional disciplinary sanctions.
The Committee shall take into account, in particular, the timing of the withdrawal or exclusion, the seriousness of the violation giving rise to the ineligibility or exclusion, possible mitigating circumstances and any other relevant circumstances.
Disciplinary sanctions may include the exclusion of the Member Association concerned from further FIFA competitions and/or its replacement by another Member Association. The FIFA Council or a competent committee may also decide to replace the federation in question with another federation.
Payment of Compensation and Forfeiture of Rewards
Also in accordance with Article Six, any match not being played or cancelled, except in cases of force majeure recognized by FIFA, may result in disciplinary action being taken against the relevant member association or associations by the Disciplinary Committee.
The FIFA Council may also order any participating member association that withdraws from the 2026 World Cup, or whose conduct results in a match not being held or cancelled, to compensate FIFA, a local FIFA affiliate or any other participating member association for any costs or damages arising from that action, including any additional sums paid by FIFA to the replacement association.
The relevant federation also loses any right to receive awards or financial income from FIFA or its local affiliate.
Powers of FIFA
The International Federation has absolute authority to deal with cases of exclusion of teams from the tournament.
“If any participating member association withdraws and/or is excluded from the 2026 World Cup, FIFA will decide in its sole discretion how to deal with the situation and take such measures as it deems necessary. It can also replace a given association with another association.”
If any participating member association withdraws and/or is disqualified before the end of the group stage, the results of all its matches will be considered void.
FIFA also reserves the right to cancel, postpone or postpone one or more matches or even the entire tournament for any reason it deems in its absolute discretion, including force majeure or health, safety or security issues.
