Cancellations and travel shutdowns are “already affecting” a number of sporting events since the U.S. and Israel launched military strikes against Iran on Saturday, and organizers will “face decisions soon on whether the competitions can go ahead as scheduled,” according to James Ellingworth of the AP. The clock “is ticking for a decision” on whether to cancel or move the Spain-Argentina Finalissima soccer game on March 27 in Qatar. Saudi club Al-Nassr, F Christiano Ronaldo’s team, has “already been affected by a wave of cancellations.” F1 has races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia next month. The racing circuit and its teams “typically start to fly in staff and freight weeks in advance, limiting the time to make a decision on whether to go ahead.” The FIA said that “its priority is ‘safety and wellbeing.’” Iran is due to send its men’s soccer team to the U.S. for the World Cup, but there is “doubt over whether Iran can or will take part in the tournament.” A major concern for athletes and teams will be “how they can travel in and out of the region safely.” There are also “travel difficulties for some athletes heading to the Winter Paralympics,” which start Friday in Italy. The International Paralympic Committee said that “most teams are already in Europe for training and it’s helping out others with travel” (AP, 3/2).
STRANDED: TENNIS’ Stephanie Livaudais writes ATP Tour players Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev “remain stranded” in the United Arab Emirates following the conclusion of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and 41 people involved with the tournament are still unable to leave amid airspace closures across the Middle East. According to MARCA, there have been “several exit strategies discussed,” including a “six-hour drive to Muscat, Oman (which has also been subject to airport closures and is currently closed) or a 10-hour drive to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where a private jet would take them to Istanbul, Turkey.” However, players “ultimately chose to stay put following an emergency meeting” (TENNIS, 3/3).
IN THE RULEBOOK: The AP’s Graham Dunbar wrote FIFA’s World Cup regulations “envisage a team withdrawing, or being excluded, from the tournament” -- though the “legal language is vague.” In that scenario, according to Article 6.7, “FIFA shall decide on the matter at its sole discretion and take whatever action is deemed necessary.” That legal framing seems to give FIFA President Gianni Infantino “wide powers to shape any decision relating to Iran.” Should Iran pull out of the World Cup -- which is “still hugely speculative” -- its soccer federation “would forfeit at least” $10.5M in earnings. FIFA pays $9M in “prize money to each of the 16 federations whose teams fail to advance” from the group stage, and all 48 qualified teams get $1.5M “to cover preparation costs.” The Iranian federation would also face “disciplinary fines from FIFA” -- at least $321,000 for withdrawing “up to 30 days before the tournament” and at least $642,000 if the decision is “in the last month before kickoff.” Iran would “risk being excluded by FIFA from qualifying for the next World Cup in 2030 as well.” Should Iran pull out, the likely replacement from Asia “should be Iraq or the United Arab Emirates” (AP, 3/2).
LOOMING DECISION: In London, Miguel Delaney cited sources as saying that the FIFA Council “has been completely sidelined” and as of Sunday afternoon “had been given no indication on what next.” There have not even been “elaborations on what the process might be if a team needed to be replaced” -- now a live possibility. Reports coming out of Iran “suggested the state may end up withdrawing the national team from the World Cup themselves.” Any eventual FIFA decision is “entirely subject to events in a situation as grave as this,” but that only makes the “creation of various contingency plans all the more important.” One source said that “there are no fixed rules” for replacing a team at a World Cup. Another source said, “It’s far too early to say on any of this.” But Delaney wrote that does not mean it is not “too early to start thinking, especially about something that is going to require clear thinking and a roadmap” (London INDEPENDENT, 3/2).
BIGGER THAN SPORT: In S.F., Scott Ostler wrote these are the times that “put sports far behind more serious problems.” As of Monday, the third day of attacks on Iran by U.S. and Israeli missiles and bombs, six U.S. soldiers had died, and “reportedly more than 500 people on the ground in Iran had been killed.” Against that backdrop, a soccer tournament seems “beyond trivial,” but the World Cup is “serious business in much of the world and has become an increasingly political football” (S.F. CHRONICLE, 3/2).
