The Football Federation of Iran (FFIRI) said its allocation of World Cup tickets had been withdrawn days before the start of the football holiday, leaving fans who had already planned to travel unable to attend their team's matches. FFIRI described the decision as an attempt to "sabotage the presence of Iranian fans" at the tournament. "Despite the fact that many Iranian football fans have already planned to attend the matches based on the officially announced process," the statement added. The federation says the move is "contrary to the spirit of international competitions and the principle of equality among participating countries." Under FIFA regulations, each participating association receives eight percent of tickets for each match for official distribution to fans, and Iran was to receive the standard allocation. However, FFIRI says it was withdrawn days before their first Group G match against New Zealand in Los Angeles, scheduled for June 15. “In an unexpected move, the allocation given to the Iranian Football Federation has been withdrawn and under the current circumstances, the federation is unable to provide even a single ticket to national team fans,” it continued. Iran, which has already accused the US of "discriminatory behavior" for denying visas to key staff members, condemned it as a "blocking" of Iranian fans. Iran's participation in this year's tournament was in jeopardy after the outbreak of war with the US and Israel in February. The team moved its base to Tijuana, Mexico after reports that the Trump administration did not want it at its originally planned base in Tucson, Arizona. U.S. visas for players were approved only on Friday, but several staff members, including Mehdi Taj, head of Iran's soccer federation, were denied visas. Abolfazl Pasandideh, Iran's ambassador to Mexico, said the visas were issued on the condition that the team leave U.S. territory on the day of its games. This despite World Cup rules requiring each team to travel the day before each match to attend a press conference at the stadium. Iran will play all of its group matches in the US: it is scheduled to face New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles and Egypt in Seattle. Neither FIFA nor the US administration has commented publicly on the situation.
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