Iran will play their final warm-up match for the World Cup behind closed doors against Mali in Turkey on Thursday before departing for their tournament base in Mexico on Saturday, the Iranian Football Federation (FFIRI) said.
Although Iran were among the first teams to qualify for the World Cup, their participation came under scrutiny after the United States and Israel launched air strikes on the Islamic Republic in late February.
Iran have held two training camps in Antalya, Turkey, since the conflict began, playing three friendly matches. They lost to Nigeria but recorded victories over Costa Rica and Gambia.
“Considering the importance of the Iranian national football team’s friendly match against Mali, and in line with the tactical objectives of Iran’s head coach, tomorrow’s match against Mali will be held behind closed doors and without media attendance,” the FFIRI said in a statement.
The federation successfully petitioned FIFA to move Iran’s tournament base from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, Mexico. From there, the team will travel across the border for their opening two Group G matches against New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles.
Iran’s final group-stage match will be against Egypt in Seattle.
On Tuesday, Marco Rubio said the United States had no objection to Iran’s national team entering the country for the tournament but would closely examine the composition of the delegation.
“What we’re not going to allow is for them to embed in their delegation a bunch of people that we know have nothing to do with athletics and have ties to the IRGC or things of that nature, so we were going to watch that very closely,” Rubio told a House of Representatives committee hearing.
Both the United States and Canada classify the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation.
FFIRI president Mehdi Taj was denied entry to Canada for the FIFA Congress in April because of his links to the IRGC.
Iran are scheduled to begin their World Cup campaign against New Zealand on June 15.
