Our team is the most oppressed one in the whole World Cup.—Says Iran head coach “Amir Ghalenoei”

Our team is the most oppressed one in the whole World Cup.—Says Iran head coach “Amir Ghalenoei”

We do not know why they are returning us. I think it’s very strange. It seems like others are doing the planning for us, decisions are made elsewhere, we were supposed to arrive two nights before the game and we were not permitted, we were supposed to stay tonight and return tomorrow lunchtime but I have no idea why, and they haven’t told us.

Our team is the most oppressed one in the whole World Cup.

“The federation is absent here. Our media isn’t here. Our management team, many of them aren’t here. We used to have a part of a coaching team to help with substitutions but we didn’t have that. Many in the technical area had to deal with that.”

Iran captain Mehdi Taremi described their treatment as a “disaster” and revealed FIFA president Gianni Infantino had been in the dressing room, offering to “help” the team.

Footage of Infantino published on X sees him telling the players “you are stronger than everything”, “this is just the beginning” adding that the team were “writing history, the whole world is watching you”.

Infantino is also understood to have told the players he would do what he could to ensure more of the Iranian delegation, who did not receive visas, could travel to the USA for their remaining group games.