Rome, 19 June (LaPresse) – The Iranian Football Federation is to lodge an appeal with FIFA through official channels regarding the ‘restrictions’ being imposed during the World Cup which, according to the Tehran-based federation, “are not in line with the principles of a level playing field for participating teams and may affect the teams’ technical preparation”. This is according to the ANA news agency, which explains that “whilst the technical staff of the Iranian national football team had already informed FIFA of their preparation programme ahead of the tournament, the restrictions imposed by the organisers have created difficulties in implementing that programme”. According to the programme submitted by the coaching staff, as stated on the agency’s website, “in order to achieve peak technical and physical condition, the national team needed to travel to the host city two days before each match and, following the match, return to their base the next day. However, for the first match against New Zealand, this request was not granted and the national team players travelled to the host city just one day before the match, before returning immediately to their accommodation after the match had finished.” These conditions, the statement continues, were repeated for the national team’s second match against Belgium. “Given that this match is due to take place at 12 noon (local time) in Los Angeles, the Iranian Football Federation, in order to ensure the players had sufficient time to acclimatise to match conditions, carry out their final training session and complete their preparations, had requested that the national team travel to Los Angeles two days before the match. Despite the technical reasons given, this request was also rejected and the national team is forced to travel to Los Angeles just one day before the match, namely on Saturday, local time.” For this reason, the Iranian Football Federation, in addition to expressing its disagreement, has decided to lodge an appeal.
World Cup: Iran to lodge an appeal with FIFA against ‘restrictions’
Rome, 19 June (LaPresse) – The Iranian Football Federation is to lodge an appeal with FIFA through official channels regarding the ‘restrictions’ being imposed during the World Cup which, according to the Tehran-based federation, “are not in line with the principles of a level playing field for participating teams and may affect the teams’ technical preparation”. This is according to the ANA news agency, which explains that “whilst the technical staff of the Iranian national football team had already informed FIFA of their preparation programme ahead of the tournament, the restrictions imposed by the organisers have created difficulties in implementing that programme”. According to the programme submitted by the coaching staff, as stated on the agency’s website, “in order to achieve peak technical and physical condition, the national team needed to travel to the host city two days before each match and, following the match, return to their base the next day. However, for the first match against New Zealand, this request was not granted and the national team players travelled to the host city just one day before the match, before returning immediately to their accommodation after the match had finished.” These conditions, the statement continues, were repeated for the national team’s second match against Belgium. “Given that this match is due to take place at 12 noon (local time) in Los Angeles, the Iranian Football Federation, in order to ensure the players had sufficient time to acclimatise to match conditions, carry out their final training session and complete their preparations, had requested that the national team travel to Los Angeles two days before the match. Despite the technical reasons given, this request was also rejected and the national team is forced to travel to Los Angeles just one day before the match, namely on Saturday, local time.” For this reason, the Iranian Football Federation, in addition to expressing its disagreement, has decided to lodge an appeal.
