Iran says fans’ tickets for World Cup games in U.S. have been revoked

FIFA has revoked the ticket allocation for Iran fans at the team’s three World Cup group games, the country’s football federation said Tuesday.

Each federation for the 48 teams taking part in the World Cup typically receives and distributes 9% of stadium capacity. However, with Iran scheduled to begin play June 15 against New Zealand in Inglewood, the federation said in a statement that it is unable to provide any tickets to its supporters.

Iran will also play on June 21 against Belgium in Inglewood and June 26 against Egypt in Seattle. The capacity at SoFi Stadium (called Los Angeles Stadium during the World Cup because of a FIFA sponsorship ban) is 70,240, meaning Iran will lose out on 6,322 seats for each of the first two games.

Nine percent of the 69,000 capacity at Seattle Stadium is 6,210. When you add the ticket allotment for the three scheduled matches, roughly 18,854 tickets were revoked.

Others are encountering problems as well. In an unrelated move, a Somali referee scheduled to officiate at the World Cup was denied entry to the United States and will not participate in the tournament, FIFA confirmed. Omar Artan was barred from entering the country after arriving at Miami International Airport from Istanbul by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

“During processing, the traveler underwent additional inspection, a routine part of CBP’s inspection process when officers need to verify information or determine admissibility,” CBP said in a statement. “Following inspection, the traveler, a referee for the FIFA World Cup, was determined to be inadmissible due to vetting concerns and was denied entry.”

Somalia is on the U.S. list of banned countries for immigration, although exceptions can be made. Artan is considered one of the best referees in Africa, having officiated in the Somali national football league championship and at the African Cup of Nations.

“Despite the circumstances, I am in a positive mood and focused on the next challenges in my refereeing career,” Artan said in a statement. “I would like to thank FIFA and [the African federation] for all their support and I promise to keep my refereeing levels up as I concentrate on the future.”

The Iran federation has more immediate concerns, saying it had already begun ticket sales but could no longer provide them to fans, many of whom had already booked flights and accommodations in the United States.

“Depriving Iranian supporters of access to their lawful and official allocation of tickets is an action contrary to the spirit governing international competitions and the principle of equality among participating countries,” the federation said in a statement. “This development raises serious questions about the interference of non-sporting and political considerations in the organization of the world’s biggest football event.”

Iran players arrived in Tijuana on Sunday wearing gold-colored lapel pins on their jackets. The pins acknowledged the victims of a missile strike on an elementary school Feb. 28 at the outset of the war in their country.

The pins simply read “#168” — replicating the hashtag of the number of people killed in the daytime strike in Minab in southern Iran. Most of the victims were girls attending Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School.

The Iran delegation changed its training plans two weeks ago, switching from Tucson to Tijuana. FIFA did not give a reason for the change, although delays have occurred in processing U.S. visas for some Iranian players and other members of the delegation that allegedly have ties to the Revolutionary Guard.

Andrew Giuliani, executive director for the White House Task Force on the World Cup, told ESPN that “if you’re inside the country legally, then you have nothing to worry about.”

“We want people to be able to come here and enjoy this World Cup while also making sure that we can keep the country safe.”