Treatment of Iran team proves politics can’t be kept out of football

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Gianni Infantino, the Fifa president, said in 2017 that fans of World Cup teams “need to have access to the country, otherwise there is no World Cup”. He said in 2018 that “politics should stay out of football”. He then went on to explain the fact that Fifa has revoked the ticket allocation for Iranian fans wanting to watch their team play World Cup games in the US. Fifa regulations state that each federation receives 8% of the tickets issued for each match to distribute to supporters. But Iran has been treated differently due, it seems, to trade sanctions. Last month the national team moved their training base to Mexico, claiming the US did not want to host them. They have to fly in and out of the US on match days and have alleged that some of their backroom staff have been denied visas. Fifa says it is working to resolve the ticket issue.