The Albany Gazette - Iran move World Cup base from US to Mexico

The Iranian team will be based in Tijuana on the border of Mexico and the United States, federation president Mehdi Taj said in a video carried by the Fars news agency.

"Fortunately, thanks to the meetings we had with FIFA officials... our request to change countries from the United States to Mexico, due to problems encountered in obtaining visas, was accepted by FIFA," Taj said.

"We will therefore be based in Tijuana, near the Pacific Ocean. It is a city that lies between Mexico and the US, but it is located in Mexico. We have actually completed the team building there."

Taj said that the move would help to avoid complications related to visas and that the squad could use Iran Air flights to travel directly to Mexico.

Iran's participation in the World Cup has been in question for months because it is being co-hosted by the United States, which along with Israel began bombing Iran on February 28, sparking a wider war in the Middle East.

Iran have been drawn in Group G and open their campaign against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15.

They will then face Belgium in the same city, and round off their group matches against Egypt in Seattle.

Taj said that Tijuana was closer to the cities where Iran will play than the camp in Arizona would have been.

"The distance for us in the two games that we have in LA will be a 55-minute flight. Which is a lot less compared to Tucson," the federation president said.

The Iran team is currently at a training camp in Antalya, southern Turkey, and some of the squad went to the US embassy in Ankara on Thursday to submit visa applications for the World Cup.

Contacted by AFP, the head of the Kino Sports Complex in Arizona where Iran were to be based said she could not confirm the move and referred all questions to World Cup organisers.

(F.Jackson--TAG)