President Trump welcomes Iran" It was useless, a firm declaration of absence from the World Cup "In any case..."

*This content was translated by AI.

U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed his intention to welcome the Iranian national soccer team into the country despite the war. However, the Iranian government immediately rejected this and declared that it would not participate in the World Cup.

U.S. media 'CBS News' reported on the 12th (Korea time) that "President Trump met with Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, in the Oval Office and expressed his intention to welcome Iran's participation in the 2026 FIFA North-China World Cup."

Immediately after the meeting, Infantino thanked President Trump for his support, saying on his personal social network service (SNS), "Now more than ever, we need events like the World Cup to unite the world."

However, contrary to President Trump's expectations, the Middle East's position is firm. In fact, it seems certain that he will not participate in the World Cup.

According to a report by Middle Eastern media Al Jazeera, Iranian Sports Minister Ahmad Doniamali appeared on state television and declared, "I cannot participate in the World Cup in any case at a time when the corrupt regime (US) assassinated the Iranian leader." Iran is virtually at war after losing its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an attack by the U.S. and Israel that began on the 28th of last month.

According to Al Jazeera, the war has killed 1,255 people and injured more than 12,000 in Iran so far. Iran also hit the peak of tensions by retaliating against Israel and U.S. military bases in neighboring Middle Eastern countries.

In the meantime, Iran's national team was scheduled to play all three group games on the U.S. mainland. Therefore, Iran decided that it was impossible to play in the group stages with New Zealand, Belgium, and Egypt in Los Angeles and Seattle.

"CBS News" said, "Iran is the first country to qualify for the North Korea-China World Cup finals. However, he was the only one who missed the World Cup preparation meeting in Atlanta earlier this month and showed an unusual atmosphere early on. At the time, President Trump responded coldly to Iran's participation in the World Cup through "Politico," saying, "It really doesn't matter," but he seems to have changed his words at a recent meeting with Infantino.

Regarding this, "Al Jazeera" analyzed, "If the U.S. refused to enter the Iranian national team, FIFA could have deprived the host of the event as in the case of Indonesia, but the situation was reversed when President Trump first expressed his intention to allow entry."

However, Iraq, a leading candidate to fill the vacancy in Iran, also faced administrative problems in the aftermath of the war. Iraq must play an intercontinental playoff with Bolivia or Suriname, but its airspace remains closed until April 1 due to the war. Coach Graham Arnold of the Iraqi national team has asked FIFA to postpone the game schedule.

The noise surrounding the World Cup continues. Co-host Mexico is also struggling with internal security issues. Violence has spread since the death of a drug cartel boss last month, causing major confusion in the World Cup host city of Guadalajara.

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*This content was translated by AI.