US eases on Iran’s World Cup team, allowing travel 2 days before next match

The U.S. is easing its restrictions on Iran’s World Cup team, allowing the squad to travel into the country two days before its next match, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday.

The team will still be required to leave after Friday’s match in Seattle, a department spokesperson said. A spokesperson for the Iran Football Federation confirmed that the team will leave its base camp in Tijuana, Mexico, on Wednesday for Seattle.

"This was planned on our end," Andrew Giuliani, the executive director of the White House FIFA Task Force, told The Associated Press. "We were going to look at how the first two movements went, and if they went smoothly, we would extend the extra day in light of the longer travel time."

Iran’s squad has complained about the travel restrictions levied on the team, and the challenges the team has faced since the outbreak of war. For the first two matches, in Los Angeles, the team was not permitted to travel until the day before. The team’s base camp was relocated from Tucson, Arizona, to Mexico. Several team officials and members of the support staff were barred from traveling into the U.S. with the team.

It’s not uncommon for teams to travel a day before the match, and it’s in line with FIFA regulations. But Iran had asked for more time to acclimate to host cities and recover after matches.

After Sunday’s draw against Belgium, national team player Alireza Jahanbakhsh said he hoped the team could travel to Seattle as soon as possible to adapt to where they will play against Egypt.

"We don’t ask for much. We just ask for the same procedure as for all the other 47 teams," he said. "Hopefully we can bring everyone who is involved and help us with us."

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