{"id":2176,"date":"2026-06-16T08:06:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T08:06:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2176"},"modified":"2026-06-16T08:06:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T08:06:55","slug":"iran-manager-calls-team-world-cups-most-oppressed-claims-its-being-immediately-sent-back-to-tijuana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2176","title":{"rendered":"Iran manager calls team World Cup’s ‘most oppressed,’ claims it’s being immediately sent back to Tijuana"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

INGLEWOOD, Calif. \u2014 Iran manager Amir Ghalenoei said his team was told it needed to leave Los Angeles immediately following its 2-2 draw against New Zealand on Monday night.<\/p>\n

Read more Syria, Lebanon fed up with Hezbollah, more favorable to Israel: polls<\/a><\/p>\n

Ghalenoei said he was not given a reason, and left unsaid who made the decision. <\/p>\n

The Iranian team initially planned to stay in California after the game for recovery and return to its base camp in Tijuana, Mexico on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey didn\u2019t even give us time to recover after the game today,\u201d Ghalenoei said in Farsi, via FIFA\u2019s interpreter. \u201cThey said to us, you have to leave immediately, whereas today, it\u2019s very important for us to have time for recovery, but yet [we] have been asked to get on a plane and return to our camp in Mexico, in Tijuana, and we are really troubled by that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s very participation in the World Cup was in question until the last minute due to its war with the United States and Israel.<\/p>\n

Though it was originally slated to have base camp in Arizona, that was moved to Tijuana, and though all of its players \u2014 including captain Mehdi Taremi, who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps \u2014 were given visas to travel to the United States, a number of support staff and Iranian journalists were not.<\/p>\n

Taremi and Mohammad Mohebi told reporters in the mixed zone that FIFA president Gianni Infantino was in their locker room pregame promising help, though exactly what came from that was left unclear.<\/p>\n

Read more Do not forget the Iranian people who still suffer, President Trump<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps our team is the most oppressed one in the whole World Cup,\u201d Ghalenoei said. \u201cThe head of the federation is absent. Our media isn\u2019t here, our management, many of them aren\u2019t here. We used to have part of the coaching team to help with substitutions, but we didn\u2019t have that. \u2026 That\u2019s why I think we are the most oppressed team in the World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Every match of the FIFA World Cup will air on either FOX or FOX Sports 1. If you don\u2019t have cable, you can take advantage of a DIRECTV free trial to stream it all.<\/p>\n

Prefer to check out the action live and in person? Shop World Cup 2026 tickets on SeatGeek and make sure to use promo code NYPOST10<\/strong> for $10 off purchases over $250 at checkout if you\u2019re a first-time SeatGeek user.<\/p>\n

Ghalenoei even went as far as implying that cramps suffered by Iranian players, including Taremi \u2014 who was substituted off in the 80th minute \u2014 were due to travel conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that they delayed our arrivals, they are forcing us to go back early without time for recovery, they are making the situation more and more difficult, facing us with more hurdles,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re not gonna let that stop us from doing our best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more The still-mysterious Iran deal leaves a LOT of work undone \u2014 at best<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Iran manager Amir Ghalenoei said his team was told it needed to leave Los Angeles immediately following its 2-2 draw against New Zealand on Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2175,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76,75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer","category-world-cup-2026"],"yoast_head":"\nIran manager calls team World Cup's 'most oppressed,' claims it's being immediately sent back to Tijuana - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2176\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Iran manager calls team World Cup's 'most oppressed,' claims it's being immediately sent back to Tijuana - 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