Iran is set to open play with its FIFA World Cup match against New Zealand on Monday at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., but while the team will play in the U.S., “its players won’t be allowed to stay here,” according to a front-page piece by Hussain & Baxter of the L.A. TIMES. All of the 26 Iranian players were granted visas to play, but they “will be forced to commute from Mexico.” Several team officials “had their visas denied at the last minute,” and “more than a dozen members of the Iranian delegation -- mostly administrative, executive and technical staff -- do not have permission to enter the U.S.” The Iranian Football Federation argues that the denial of visas to key staff “constitutes political interference and violates the guarantees the U.S. made in 2018 to secure the rights to host the World Cup.” It is “significant” that the game will take place in the L.A. area, home to the “largest Iranian population outside Iran.” Experts said that with two of the Iranian team’s three group-play games at SoFi, some who are “steadfastly opposed to the Iranian government may protest them.” Others may “avoid the game altogether, seeing the team as interchangeable with the government they fled from.” Still others hope it will be a “moment of unity and love for L.A.’s Iranian community” (L.A. TIMES, 6/14).
EXPECTING PROTESTS: In N.Y., Tariq Panja writes the atmosphere at the stadium in Inglewood is “likely to be tense.” Organizers of protests against the Iranian government said that they “expect thousands to join them outside of the stadium and others have said they will attend the game and use it as a platform for further protests.” Iranian soccer officials have pressed FIFA to “take firm action to stop spectators from bringing in flags, clothing or other symbols of Iran before the Islamic Revolution of 1979.” For other Iranians, including many opposed to the regime, “the protests targeting the team are putting them off attending games” in L.A., where groups “promoting the son of the deposed Shah have been among the most vocal” (N.Y. TIMES, 6/15).
