Report: Iran coach to attend World Cup draw despite federation boycott

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran's national team coach will attend the 2026 World Cup draw in Washington, despite an earlier announcement by the country's soccer federation that it would boycott the event, Iranian media reported Thursday.

The Iranian soccer federation said last week that the U.S. denied visas to members of its delegation and that it would skip Friday's draw as a result.

But federation spokesman Amir-Mahdi Alavi told YJC.ir, a news agency affiliated with Iran's state TV, that Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei would attend the event together with one or two staff members to ensure Iran's seat is not left vacant.

Alavi said that Ghalenoei's attendance was purely technical and did not amount to walking back the federation's protest.

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration announced in June a travel ban on citizens from 12 countries including Iran. The list also included Haiti, which has qualified for the World Cup.

Exemptions, however, were promised for "any athlete or member of an athletic team, including coaches, persons performing a necessary support role, and immediate relatives, traveling for the World Cup, Olympics, or other major sporting event as determined by the secretary of state."

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