Iranian officials absent from pre-World Cup football events in Canada
Key takeaways
- It is unclear whether football officials from Iran were issued Canadian visas to attend AFC and FIFA congresses.
- The 48-team tournament is being hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico.
- It was not clear if visa issues prevented Iranian representatives from attending the AFC Congress.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
It is unclear whether football officials from Iran were issued Canadian visas to attend AFC and FIFA congresses.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Vice President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Football Federation Mehdi Mohammad Nabi met with FIFA chief Gianni Infantino in Turkiye last month but was not present at the AFC Congress in Canada [File: Kaan Soyturk/Reuters]By The Associated Press Published On 29 Apr 202629 Apr 2026Representatives from Iran’s football federation were not present at the largest formal meeting of Asia’s football leaders before the World Cup.
In the presence of FIFA President Gianni Infantino, there was no discussion at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Congress about Iran’s participation in the tournament or whether the team’s games should be moved out of the United States because of the US-Israeli war on Iran.