Iran’s participation in the World Cup is hardly the first item on the agenda of a country at war. Not that the threatened withdrawal of Iran under protest at the military onslaught by the United States and Israel would unduly discomfit Fifa. There are plenty of replacement teams from Fifa’s Asian Confederation forming a queue.
The power of the Iranian threat lies in its symbolism, highlighting the hypocrisy of President Donald Trump as an emissary of peace and the rank absurdity of the Fifa Peace Prize and its originator, never mind and the inaugural recipient of it.
Of course Fifa president Gianni Infantino does not have a crystal ball and was not to know Trump would unleash hell in the Middle East when he was polishing his trinket in the Oval Office, so to speak.
The removal of the Venezuelan head of state Nicolas Maduro in January was hardly a selling point and now the World Cup of Peace has to contend with an all-out attack on Iran on grounds that appear specious.
There are few outside the complex of the theocratic government and Revolutionary Guard that mourn the passing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But dislike of an abhorrent regime is hardly grounds for taking out the leadership, however popular the move.
Iranians continue to protest against the bombing of Tehran and other key targets (Photo: Getty)The world is braced for the consequences as the Iranian regime fights for its very existence.
In this context the World Cup is of nil significance, yet such is the way of things with global sporting galas being hijacked by the political class, the big Fifa party in the United States, Mexico and Canada, is inevitably dragged into the discourse.
This is especially the case since Trump’s fawning champion Infantino has placed the American president front and centre of his marketing campaign.
This taints the tournament by association, exacerbating the material difficulties already bubbling to the surface.
The stadium in Foxborough, a small town near Boston, is scheduled to stage seven matches, yet unless the £5.5m security bill is met by federal funding it ain’t happening, according to the town’s chairwoman, Stephanie McGowan.
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The deadline is 17 March. Foxborough is not a big enough municipality to benefit from the GDP boost promised because fans commute from outside, essentially from Boston.
“This is not a money maker for this town. In fact it’s probably more of a headache than it’s worth,” she said.
Federal funding is also an issue for fan parks.
Congress has allocated more than £400m across 11 host cities but none has yet to receive a penny, prompting organisers in Miami, Kansas City and New Jersey, where the final is to be played, to raise their concerns.
You wonder why fans would risk being out in public spaces anyway, under the influence of Fifa sponsor Budweiser or not, with the ever present threat of ICE agent deployment. You wouldn’t want to be reaching for your autograph pen and have it interpreted as a lethal weapon.
Mercifully, Minnesota is not among the host cities, but should some hosts pull the plug in these uncertain times, who knows which replacement stadium might come forward?
Iran’s national women’s team is currently at the Asian Cup in Australia, and according to reports, understandably feeling the strain of representing a nation under fire, and one complicated by the widespread distrust and hatred of the regime.
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Reports of a possible boycott by the men’s team, that is scheduled to play the opening two group games in Los Angeles and the third in Seattle, are sourced to comments made on state television by the president of the national football federation.
“It’s hard to look forward with hope,” Mehdi Taj said, adding that ultimately the decision will be handed down from above.
Meanwhile we hold our breath whilst Fifa’s peace lord continues to let go the white doves of war across the Middle East.
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