US defends Iran World Cup travel restrictions, says discussions ongoing

HOUSTON – The United States will continue to assess the Iran squad’s travel arrangements at the World Cup but for now the original plan remains in place despite the team saying they would lodge a complaint with FIFA, Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House Task Force for the tournament, told Reuters on June 20.

Iran are unhappy at restrictions that mean they can only travel to venues within 24 hours of their fixtures and must depart back to their training base in Tijuana, Mexico directly after each game, with coach Amir Ghalenoei suggesting his side were “the most oppressed team in the whole World Cup”.

Giuliani, however, says the situation is fluid and they will discuss what measures will be in place for Iran’s third game against Egypt in Seattle on June 26, after their meeting with Belgium in Los Angeles on June 21.

“The situation is dynamic,” Giuliani said in an exclusive interview in Houston. “We have a plan right now. Tomorrow afternoon (after the match against Belgium) they will take the 27-minute flight back to Tijuana.

“We will see how it goes for match two, and then there will be discussions the day after in terms of what it looks like for match three in Seattle.”

Giuliani defended the measures in place and said the pre-tournament change in training bases for the side from Tucson to Tijuana had shortened Iran’s travel time.

“The shift from Tucson to Tijuana, I think, was good for everybody involved, certainly it reduces their travel time to Los Angeles too,” he said. “Their flight is an hour shorter than it would be from Tucson. And we’re happy with the way that things went for match one in Los Angeles.

“I would just point to the fact that all players have received visas. All the coaches have received visas. There are some team officials that have not received visas, and that’s because we’ve seen some derogatory information on them, and this is the balance that we talk about.”

Giuliani said the goal has always been to protect the interests of the United States and the international visitors at the World Cup.

“We want to make sure we have this incredible soccer tournament, where people are welcome and enjoy the World Cup, while also making sure that we are not just protecting American citizens, but we’re also protecting all those international visitors that are coming here,” he said.

He revealed that no threats to the tournament had been identified, but that officials remain vigilant.

“What I can tell you is our intelligence community has tripled down on this since the beginning of this year,” he said. “We’re in discussions every hour on it. But there have been no credible threats at this moment.”

Giuliani has been pleased with the opening 10 days of the World Cup.

“Things are going as planned,” he said. “It’s been fantastic to see the great play on the pitch, that seems to be the majority of the conversation, which has been fantastic.

“I think this is an amazing celebration of America over our 250th birthday, with the World Cup being the incredible highlight.” REUTERS