Washington, United States. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said he celebrated Iran’s elimination from the World Cup, according to Sports Business Journal. Iran’s coach, Amir Ghalenoei, said his team was treated unfairly during the tournament in the United States.
Mullin comments on Iran’s exit
Iran narrowly missed advancing to the knockout rounds after drawing all three of its Group G matches and finishing as the ninth-best third-place team. The top eight third-place teams qualified for the round of 32 after Austria scored a last-minute goal against Algeria in the final group-stage match.
Speaking at a World Cup security briefing in Washington, Mullin said he was “so glad they’re gone” and that he was “very happy they’re going back because there wasn’t a single team that we dealt with more than them,” according to Sports Business Journal.
Following the briefing on Monday, Mullin told reporters, according to the publication, “I’m just glad they’re done, and they’re not coming back. I was so happy when we were able to pull their visas and said they could leave the U.S. soil, and I might’ve sung a song or two or maybe even danced a happy dance.”
Restrictions on Iran’s team
During the World Cup, the United States restricted the Iranian team’s movements amid ongoing military and political conflict between the two countries. Before the tournament, Iran moved its planned training base from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana.
The United States also limited the amount of time the Iranian team could spend in the country before each match and required the squad to leave immediately after each contest.
Mullin said “almost half” of the people Iran wanted to bring to the United States for the World Cup were directly tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Iranian federation said the assertion was “completely unsupported by any evidence.”
Iran coach criticizes treatment
Ghalenoei said his team was treated “very unfairly” during the tournament.
After Iran’s 1-1 draw against Egypt on Friday in Seattle, Ghalenoei said, “It was the host that wasn’t very good to us. I urge FIFA to not let the hosts treat teams and players the same way in the future. I hope Mr. Infantino will actually stand up to such behavior.”
He added that the United States’ “behavior towards us has been really terrible and we hope the world will be aware of that. Despite all of these problems, we’ve been able to perform well and the world is proud of Iranians and our team. I think that’s our greatest achievement despite all the obstacles and the hurdles they put in our way.”
FIFA context
FIFA president Gianni Infantino was described in the report as being close to Donald Trump and having awarded the U.S. president the inaugural “FIFA Peace Prize” in December.