Trump welcomes Iran to the World Cup

FIFA President Gianni Infantino confirmed today, Wednesday, that US President Donald Trump pledged to him, during a meeting between them yesterday evening, Tuesday, to welcome the Iranian national team to the World Cup scheduled for next summer.

Infantino wrote on his Instagram account: “During our conversations, President Trump reaffirmed that the Iranian team is certainly welcome to participate in the tournament in the United States,” which shares hosting with its neighbors Canada and Mexico.

The Italian-Swiss added, “During a meeting to discuss preparations for the tournament, we also talked about the current situation in Iran.”

Trump's statements to Infantino constitute a stark contradiction to what he made to Politico last week, when he said, "I don't really care" about Iran's participation in the World Cup.

Iran's participation in the world finals has become a matter of doubt, after the war launched against it by the United States and Israel.

If Iran withdraws, it will be the first time this has happened since France and India withdrew from the 1950 finals in Brazil.

This is the first time that Infantino addressed the “situation in Iran,” which he discussed with Trump.

Since February 28, the United States and Israel have launched a series of strikes against Iran. Which makes the presence of “Team Milli” in the global finals undecided.

Only a few hours after the attack began, Mehdi Taj, head of the Iranian Football Federation, hinted at the possibility of boycotting the finals, considering that the final decision rests with the “sports authorities” in the country.

He told Iranian television: “These events will not go unanswered... but what is certain at the moment is that with this attack and this brutality, the World Cup cannot be looked at with hope.”

On Tuesday, Taj raised more doubts about his country's national team's participation, after he said that the Iranian women's national team players who participated in the Asian Cup held in Australia were subjected to pressure to force them to defect and some of them requested asylum, which they obtained.

Taj blamed President Trump, saying: “The American president himself posted two tweets about the women’s national team, in which he said: ‘We welcome them and they should become refugees.’”

He continued: “He also threatened Australia, saying: ‘If you do not grant them asylum, I will grant them asylum in the United States.’”