The mayor of Kansas City, which will host six World Cup matches, said he wants Iran to appear in the tournament this summer and would welcome them to Kansas City if they were due to play there.
The Iranian sports minister Ahmad Donyamali said his country could not participate in this summer’s competition, despite qualifying for it after the United States, a co-host, and Israel launched air strikes in which the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed.
More than 1,000 Iranians are believed to have died in the conflict in the last two weeks and while Donald Trump said he “didn’t care” if their national team played in the World Cup, Fifa president Gianni Infantino claimed the United States president told him they were welcome.
Iran were due to play two group games in Los Angeles and one in Seattle, facing New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt, with a potential last-32 tie in Seattle, Dallas, New York or Vancouver.
But Quinton Lucas, the Democrat who is serving his second term as Kansas City mayor, said: “I have concerns about their non-participation. I would want them to be part of it. I think the World Cup is not supposed to just be the aligned countries cup.
“It's not the Commonwealth Games. It's not some of the other events that we have worldwide. Instead, it's supposed to be something that brings everyone in the world together. Indeed, when the World Cups have been played in places like Russia and Qatar, where there have been other types of political disagreements. Russia itself engaged in conflict at the time, not with necessarily a competing country.
“I think we have all said that all should be welcome, all should be able to play. That's going to be what I continue to make as my message. And if Kansas City were hosting Iran in matches, we would absolutely make them welcome here. And I think we'll continue to try to take those steps long term.”
