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After originally being slated to spend the night in Los Angeles following its World Cup opener on Monday, the Iranian men’s soccer team was ordered to leave the country as soon as possible.
Coach Amir Ghalenoei said it was ordered to leave the U.S. and return to its training base in Mexico only a few hours after opening its politically charged tournament by playing to a 2-2 draw with New Zealand on Monday night.
Ghalenoei didn’t say who ordered the Iranians to leave earlier than planned. The team had expected to spend the night in California to maximize the normal recovery process after its opening game, only to be told after the match that everyone must immediately get on a plane for the 140-mile trip back to Tijuana.
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“They didn’t even give us time to recover,” Ghalenoei said through an interpreter. “After the game today, they said to us, ‘You have to leave immediately.’ It’s very important for us to have time for recovery, (but) we are asked to get on a plane and return to our camp in Tijuana, and we are really troubled by that.”
Iran captain Mehdi Taremi said the team endured five hours of travel and security checks during what is normally a very short trip from Tijuana to the Los Angeles area on Sunday.
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“We don’t know why they are returning us, to be honest,” Ghalenoei said. “I think it’s very strange. It seems like others are doing the planning for us. The decision-making for us is being made elsewhere. We were supposed to come two nights before the game, and we were supposed to stay tonight to recover and return tomorrow at lunchtime. We have no idea why.
“I think our team is perhaps the most oppressed in the World Cup.”
Taremi called on FIFA to offer additional assistance.
“I think FIFA have to help us more than this. … Everything is like a disaster, actually, for us,” he said.
The Iranians’ remaining two games in group play are against Belgium in Inglewood on Sunday, followed by a trip to Seattle to face Egypt next week.
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While several hundred Iranian Americans protested the government outside, many fans from the diaspora jeered and turned their backs on the field during the national anthem. Dozens of Lion and Sun emblems — the centerpiece of Iran’s official flag before 1979 — were displayed in the crowd despite FIFA’s attempts to keep them away, while dozens more fans wore the Lion and Sun emblems on T-shirts.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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