🇮🇷 Iran cannot take part in the World Cup, says their sports minister | OneFootball

The Minister of Sport and Youth, Ahmad Doyanmali, has confirmed in an interview with Iranian state television his stance of not attending the upcoming World Cup in the United States.

“Since this corrupt government (United States) assassinated our leader, we do not have the conditions to attend. Our children are not safe, and basically, there are no conditions to attend,” the minister stated. The war tension and the lack of guarantees for the players are at the core of this withdrawal.

Minister Doyanmali was firm in justifying this stance, directly pointing to the host and the inaction of football authorities.

“If any other country had organized the World Cup and had done a thousandth of what they have done, the international community would undoubtedly have taken measures and stripped them of the hosting rights,” he stated, labeling the U.S. as an "aggressor country."

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Doyanmali also linked the stance to recent military clashes that have affected the country, stating that the imposed hostilities have caused thousands of casualties.

“Given the evils they have committed against Iran, they have imposed two wars on us in eight or nine months and have killed and martyred several thousand of our citizens,” he concluded.

For now, neither FIFA nor the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran has communicated an official stance on the possible withdrawal of the Iranian team from the World Cup.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.

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