Iran’s football team represents the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), not the people of Iran, and FIFA should ban the team from participating in the upcoming World Cup, protesters who gathered outside the FIFA Congress in Vancouver said on Thursday.
«This is not Iran, this is the team of the Islamic Republic. This is the team of the IRGC,» said Pouria Mahmoudi, organizer of Mission for My Homeland, which brought together about 30 protesters draped in Iranian flags and carrying signs supporting Iranian opposition Reza Pahlavi.
«They are not here to represent Iran. They are here to normalize what is happening in Iran, the massacre in Iran. So no, they should not participate in the World Cup,» he said. Reuters.
Iran has qualified for the tournament from June 11 to July 19, but participation was fraught. Tehran requested alternative venues for matches on US soil amid the country’s two-month conflict with the United States and Israel.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino reiterated on Thursday that he expected Iran to participate and play matches in the US, and US President Donald Trump said later in the day he agreed with Infantino’s position.
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CACKDOWN AGAINST PROTESTERS
Iran’s anti-government protests in January were met with brutal state action that left thousands of people dead. Mahmoudi said the carnage was bigger than the desire of the players in the team to participate in the tournament.
«What about those who are being killed, the Iranian footballers, who are also being killed? FIFA should not be silent about them,» he said.
«People need to speak out about the athletes who have been killed, especially the footballers. Russia was excluded from the World Cup… so we expect FIFA to do the same.»
Iranian Football Federation officials, including President Mehdi Taj, were due to attend the meeting in Vancouver but returned to Toronto airport after what Tehran described as “unacceptable behavior” by Canadian immigration authorities despite traveling with valid visas.
Canadian officials said decisions on access were made on a case-by-case basis and reiterated that individuals associated with the IRGC, which Ottawa labels a terrorist organization, were inadmissible.
Taj is a former member of the IRGC.
“The moment we heard he was coming to Canada, we did our best to deport him, and we are happy that this happened,” Mahmoudi said. «This is really a great success for us. It shows that the Iranian people, when united, can do great things.»
Published on May 1, 2026
