Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei said Saturday U.S. travel restrictions on his World Cup team have been be eased for their third group game but that does not replace the lack of love from tournament organizers which he claims has damaged their on-field performance.
He further lashed out at the coaches of the other 47 sides at the World Cup for not supporting Iran’s grievances against the United States and the hurt feelings they have caused.
As Breitbart News reported, the Iranian squad arrived at the World Cup with their country still at war with co-hosts the United States, and have been based in Mexico while playing all their games in the U.S.
Washington maintains it always reserves the right to determine who enters the country and under what circumstances they are allowed to stay.
Cross-border travel has therefore been needed to participate and U.S. authorities have only permitted the team to remain in the country for a few hours after each game, with restrictions frequently shifting last-minute.
After playing Belgium in Los Angeles on Sunday, Iran’s final group game will take place in Seattle next Friday against Egypt.
AFP reports Ghalenoei on Saturday said he had been told his team will have more flexibility for their final match, before quickly lamenting it would have been “justice” for his team to have the same treatment for its first two games.
“They said in Seattle, you can do what you want, you can act the way you want to, and you can come earlier,” he told a press conference, without specifying who exactly the information had come from.
“But what I want, my problem is, why didn’t they let us come earlier for the first two games as well? I just know for the last game, yes, they’ve allowed us to decide, to make our own decisions with regards to planning the travel.
“But unfortunately, for the first two games, others made these travel arrangements for us, and the timing for us.”
The manager said restrictions on his team had been even more onerous for Sunday’s upcoming game against Belgium, Group G’s highest-ranked team, the AFP report continues.
Ghalenoei said his team had arrived in the U.S. on Saturday less than 24 hours before kickoff, despite being briefly told by FIFA on Friday early afternoon that they may be able to travel that day.
“We waited till 7.00pm, nothing happened, and they said, ‘Sorry, we weren’t able to do that,” said the coach. “That’s going to affect us mentally, especially me as a head coach, because I want to focus on technical stuff,” he despaired.
AFP contributed to this report