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The president of the federation, the most prominent of which… refused 10 visas.
The United States has denied Iran’s soccer federation president Mehdi Taj an entry visa to the 2026 World Cup, which the United States is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico, even though Iran’s players have been granted entry visas after months of uncertainty over their status.
The New York Times, citing four senior officials, reported that U.S. authorities approved visa applications for all 26 players on Iran’s national team, while more than a dozen members of administrative staff, support staff and Iran’s soccer federation were denied entry to the U.S. to accompany the national team during the tournament.
One of the officials explained that Mehdi Taj was among the names whose visa applications were denied, noting that he previously held a leadership position in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, which both the United States and Canada designate as a terrorist organization.
In the same context, the Iranian news agency ISNA reports that the American authorities have also refrained from granting entry visas to a number of officials of the Iranian national team, including the director of the national team, Mehdi Mohammad Nabi, and the general secretary of the Iranian Football Federation, Hedayat Membini.
In addition to Iran national team executive director Mehdi Kharati, national team media director Mohsen Mothamed Kian and media team member Siamak Kalijkhani, in addition to two performance analysts in the national team.
Iran are set to open their 2026 World Cup campaign against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15, before taking on Belgium in the same city before finishing their group stage matches against Egypt in Seattle.
