The Iranian men’s national soccer team’s rapid departure from Los Angeles after their opening World Cup fixture was part of agreed arrangement with the United States government, according to officials, even as the squad expressed frustration over the timing.
Iran’s head coach, Amir Ghalenoei, said he and his players had expected to remain in California overnight following their 2-2 draw with New Zealand.
Instead, he said they were instructed to leave immediately after the match and fly back to their training base in Tijuana.
“They didn’t even give us time to recover,” Ghalenoei said, according to the Associated Press.
“After the game today, they said to us, ‘You have to leave immediately.’ It’s very important for us to have time for recovery, (but) we are asked to get on a plane and return to our camp in Tijuana, and we are really troubled by that.”
In comments aired by CBS News on Monday, Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the task force, said the schedule had been set for the team to depart “the evening of the match.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told CNN that Iranian officials had agreed to those terms in advance.
The situation adds another layer of tension to Iran’s participation in the tournament hosted by the United States, as political and security strains between the two countries continue alongside the competition.
Reports indicate that a broader conflict framework between the two sides is expected to be formalised later this week, further complicating the backdrop to the event.
Iran had already faced logistical upheaval before the tournament began, including a last-minute relocation of its training base from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana.
Despite earlier speculation that the team might withdraw due to the conflict, they have remained in the competition and are scheduled to play all group matches in the United States, including fixtures against Belgium in Los Angeles and Egypt in Seattle.
However, the squad’s build-up has been affected by a series of complications, including visa restrictions that prevented some delegation members from entering the country, the revocation of Iran’s ticket allocation by FIFA, and restrictions on supporters travelling from Iran to attend matches.
These issues, combined with the political backdrop, have left the team describing the tournament environment as unusually difficult.
While US officials insist the travel arrangement was pre-approved, Iran’s coach said the team was not expecting to be moved so quickly after the match.
“We don’t know why they are returning us, to be honest,” Ghalenoei said, per AP. “I think it’s very strange. It seems like others are doing the planning for us. The decision-making for us is being made elsewhere. We were supposed to come two nights before the game, and we were supposed to stay tonight to recover and return tomorrow at lunchtime. We have no idea why.
“I think our team is perhaps the most oppressed in the World Cup.”
