Iranian National Team Slams Trump’s Travel Restrictions After Being Forced to Leave US Immediately After World Cup Match

Karl Anderson/Icon Sportswire via AP Images

Members of the Iranian national team complained about their strict travel guidelines after the team was forced to leave the U.S. right after its match against New Zealand.

On Monday, Iran took on New Zealand in its World Cup opener at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Despite New Zealand being the favorites going into the match, Iran managed a 2-2 draw to secure a point in the tournament’s group stage. The team nearly pulled off the upset with just a few minutes remaining as a shot that just missed the goal.

While the result of the match was a relatively positive one, Iranian coach Amir Ghalenoei used his media availability to instead criticize the travel restrictions the team has been forced to endure. A report from ESPN added:

The team was scheduled to fly to the U.S. two days before each game, before departing the following day.

However, Iran traveled to Los Angeles on Sunday and have said their travel plans were altered again following Monday’s game.

“We spent so much time in the air commuting, they didn’t even give us time to recover,” Ghalenoei said through an interpreter. “After the game today, they said to us, ‘You have to leave immediately.’

“It’s very important for us to have time for recovery, but we’ve been told to return to our camp in Tijuana, and we are really troubled by that.”

Ghalenoei, the report noted, went on to call the national team “the most oppressed team in the whole World Cup.”

Players also complained about the restriction. During the team’s post-game press conference, Mehdi Taremi called the whole ordeal a “disaster.”

“It’s not the right thing for us, but we don’t follow the excuse,” Taremi continued. “We’re just looking forward, we’re having hope for the next two games, and we will do our best for our people and we bring the joy for our supporters.”

His teammate, Mohammad Mohebi, further explained the difficulties the team had faced.

“And I think, maybe, Mehdi, we must come here two days before the game,” Mohebi said. “Yesterday, we came. Start the trip, I think, at morning, and we arrive at afternoon, and [directly] go to the training; and we get tired, you know? I think [it was] supposed to be we came here two days before the game. These kinds of things, I think, is not a little bit fair, you know? We need to fair competitive, you know?

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