PLDC - As concerns continue over U.S. visa approvals for Iran national team players, Iranian Football Federation president Mehdi Taj announced that Iran’s World Cup base camp has officially been moved from the United States to Tijuana, Mexico.
The announcement came 48 hours after Iranian players attended visa appointments at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, Turkey.
The decision is considered significant because the Iranian federation had previously hoped to move Iran’s World Cup matches from Los Angeles and Seattle to Mexico as well, although that request was not approved. However, relocating the team’s base camp to Mexico could still help ease visa-related concerns, as Iran’s total stay inside the United States during the tournament would be reduced dramatically — potentially by up to three times.
Taj stated that FIFA had approved the training camps for all participating nations and confirmed Iran’s request following several meetings with FIFA officials in Istanbul, as well as a webinar held in Tehran with FIFA’s secretary general.
“We requested to change the camp location from the United States to Mexico, and this request has been approved,” Taj said.
He added that Iran’s camp will now be based in Tijuana, a city near the Pacific Ocean located on the Mexico-U.S. border.
“Our camp will be in Tijuana. The team will stay there and the contract will be finalized soon. There are no problems and FIFA has accepted it,” Taj explained.
