Iran boycott World Cup draw after the U.S. refuses to issue visas to their delegation

Global football fans reacting to the situation:

FootballWatcher
So refusing visas to Iran’s federation staff doesn’t count as government interference according to FIFA?

　↳ CorruptionSpeedrunGuy
　Bro, it’s government interference 101. FIFA just pretends it isn’t whenever it helps them cozy up to Trump.
　The U.S. went from ‘FIFA corruption watchdog’ to ‘full-on corruption enjoyer’ in like ten years. Incredible speedrun.

　↳ MoneyTalksEveryTime
　FIFA drools over anyone who waves money at them. It’s basically a cultural tradition at this point.

　↳ PeacePrizeParody
　They literally invented a ‘Peace Prize’ for one very special little man. Peak comedy.

　↳ OnlyOneWhoCares
　Honestly he’s the only politician they’ve slobbered over who actually cares about a peace prize.

　↳ InfantinoIsACircus
　Infantino’s just another corrupt clown.
　Blatter would’ve moved the whole World Cup to England the moment he smelled corruption this obvious.

　↳ BlatterHistorian
　The Blatter nostalgia is hilarious. Dude was corrupt as hell — he just wasn’t this blatant.

　↳ SubtletyMatters
　Which matters, because not being blatant actually limits the evil you can pull off.

　↳ StateViolenceIgnored
　Meanwhile, FIFA’s happily ignoring state violence against Americans the Trump admin doesn’t like.
　My city’s literally getting tear-gassed block by block and FIFA’s like ‘What violence?’

↳ MAGAFeelingToday
Today I feel… MAGA.

↳ BlatterSarcasmBoss
　Yeah, FIFA wasn’t corrupt under Blatter. Totally. /s

　↳ TrumpMoneyMocker
　And Trump doesn’t even pay FIFA a dime lol.

　↳ SelectiveInterferenceGuy
　FIFA only screams ‘government interference’ when a government messes with its own FA.
　Anything else? They suddenly go deaf.

　↳ InfantinoNavigator
　Infantino’s so far up Trump’s ass he probably needs a map to get back out.

WorldCupDoomProphet
This is shaping up to be the worst World Cup ever.

　↳ VisaChaosCommenter
　We can’t even guarantee players will get visas. Fans? Forget it.

　↳ ICENightmareWatcher
　And even if they get visas, there’s a non-zero chance ICE detains them anyway. Absolute nightmare.

　↳ DefaultWinSatirist
　Calling it now: half the squads get arrested by ICE, the U.S. wins by default.

　↳ TrumpMedalMemeGuy
　Trump doesn’t care about the U.S. winning.
　He just wants to be on stage holding a medal.
　Didn’t he straight-up steal Adarabioyo’s Club World Cup medal before?

　↳ CWCFlashbackFan
　Please no. I can already see him wedging himself into the trophy ceremony like at the CWC.

　↳ ReplicaTrophyJoker
　He’ll probably demand the real trophy stays with him while the champions get some cheap replica.

　↳ StateFavoriteFollower
　The U.S. winning doesn’t matter — as long as a leader he likes wins and kisses his ass.
　Argentina, the unofficial 51st state, is suddenly the favorite lol.

OpeningMatchOptimist
See you at the opening match!

　↳ VisaDeniedAnon
　If we even get visas.
　Even if I had French citizenship and money, they’d see my Arabic name and insta-deny it.
　And if I somehow got in, ICE would probably deport me by halftime.

QatarComparisonStarter
People complained about Qatar too.

　↳ EmptySeatsMythMaker
　And the stadiums were empty.

　↳ RealityCheckReply
　No they weren’t lol. redditors live in their own fantasy realm.

　↳ OnPitchEnjoyer
　On the pitch it was one of the best World Cups ever.
　Most people didn’t care about the controversy once the whistle blew.

　↳ HumanRightsReminder
　Yeah, ignoring human rights abuses and literal slave labor so Infantino can dive into his money pit every night? Hard pass.

　↳ EmpathyAdvocate
　People with zero empathy telling others to shut up so they can enjoy their entertainment in peace — classic.

　↳ DualityDefender
　We can enjoy stuff and hate the awful parts.
　I can eat a meal while being pissed about the hunger crisis in Palestine. Both can be true.

　↳ BoycottBeliever
　That’s not the same as directly supporting abuse though.
　If people boycotted World Cups with human rights issues, the problems wouldn’t keep happening.

TournamentPanicPoster
Are we even gonna have a proper World Cup at this rate? lol

　↳ HostingLawExpert
　For the actual tournament, host nations legally can’t deny entry to any team’s players or registered staff — for any reason.
　When they win the bid, they agree to that explicitly.
　If they break it, they lose hosting rights or their national team gets banned.
　Indonesia literally lost the U-20 World Cup because they refused to let Israel’s team enter.

　↳ DrawDelegationQuestion
　So refusing visas for the draw delegation is allowed?

　↳ Maradona2002Trivia
　Japan did the same to Maradona in 2002. In the end they let him in under some ‘government delegation’ excuse.

DrawWillHappenAnyway
Even if Iran skips the draw, the groups will be decided anyway.

ChaosGroupDreamer
Imagine Iran getting drawn with the U.S. That would be hilarious.

ProbablePlacementGuy
Most likely they end up in the Mexico or Canada group anyway.

　↳ OneUSMatchMinimum
　Even if they’re placed in MEX/CAN’s path, Iran still plays at least one match in the U.S.

　↳ TrumpShiftPrediction
　Watch the U.S. suddenly shift all Iran matches to Mexico and Canada for ‘security reasons.’
　If it’s Trump calling the shots, he’d absolutely do it.

UltimateChaosGroupMaker
My dream group:
USA
Iran
Some random country
Ukraine
Peak chaos.

　↳ HistoryRepeater
　Last World Cup had England–USA–Iran–Wales.
　If you consider Wales part of the UK, that was literally US+UK vs Iran.

　↳ NostalgiaLaughs
　Good times.

PresenterPointMaker
Isn’t the draw mostly presenters anyway? Iran doesn’t need to be there for the balls to be picked.

PrepAdvantageAnalyst
They’re not drawing their own balls, sure — but negotiations for friendlies and prep matches start immediately after the draw.
Missing the event is a disadvantage for Iran.

DelegationVsSquadClarifier
The delegation for the draw isn’t the same as the official squad.
But if the U.S. ever tries to deny visas to the actual World Cup squad, FIFA would have to punish the U.S…
Though honestly, does anyone think FIFA would dare punish America?

USHostMessHistorian
Can’t believe this World Cup might be even messier than the last U.S.-hosted one.

VisaRefusalHypothetical
What happens if the U.S. literally refuses to let Iranian players in during the tournament?

　↳ LongTimeWarningGuy
　People have been warning about that for years. Not even a joke.

KnockoutShiftScenario
If Iran gets sent to Mexico/Canada for the group stage, what if they advance?
Would the U.S. shift knockout games too?
At that point just host the damn draw in Mexico or Canada instead.

FairnessEnforcer
If the U.S. refuses visas to Iran’s players, then the U.S. shouldn’t be allowed to compete in the World Cup either.

EqualityAdvocateFan
The U.S. is being ridiculous. Host nations have to treat all teams equally.
Stop mixing politics with football.
Pretty sure this is Trump’s doing — he can pull strings with one phone call.

ReplacementBrainstormer
If the U.S. loses hosting rights AND gets kicked out, who replaces them?

　↳ CostaRicaBeliever
　Costa Rica.

　↳ NoReplacementRealist
　No one. It’s too late.
　FIFA could order forfeits though — 0–3 automatic losses for the U.S.

HostEmbarrassmentObserver
Embarrassing stuff from the U.S.
This is why some countries shouldn’t host major tournaments.

DrawLoopholeExplainer
Technically, the draw isn’t ‘sporting competition,’ so that’s the loophole they’re using.
Which is dumb but predictable.

EntryGuaranteeSkeptic
Is Iran even guaranteed to be allowed into the U.S. for the actual games?
Saying ‘they can play, just not on our soil’ makes no sense.

　↳ TournamentObligationGuy
　For the tournament itself, hosts are obligated to allow entry.
　If the U.S. refuses, they face severe penalties.
　But with Trump around, Iran assumes they’ll be sent to Mexico/Canada anyway.

RiggedDrawPredictor
They’re probably gonna rig it so Iran ends up in Mexico’s Group A.
The U.S. will want Iran out ASAP, so expect some ‘coincidental’ draw luck.
Group A: Mexico, Iran, Norway, Italy.
You heard it here first.

PlayoffReplacementNerd
If Iran gets removed last-minute, Iraq would take their place via the intercontinental playoff.
Norway would move up from Pot 3 to Pot 2 based on rankings.
Japan avoiding Norway in Pot 2 would be huge. (Japanese fan here.)

IsolationLogisticsGuy
If more matches were in Mexico/Canada, isolating Iran would’ve been easier.

SituationSucks
This whole situation is just awful.

　↳ IntelExcuseSupporter
　Depends who exactly got denied.
　If it was intelligence-linked officials, the U.S. might have had its own reasons.

PettyPoliticsPointer
Still feels like petty political trolling.