May 6 (Reuters) - Iranian FA (FFIRI) chief Mehdi Taj says FIFA must guarantee that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is not insulted by the United States if the national team is to travel to the country to play at the World Cup in June.
An FFIRI delegation, including Taj, turned back from the Canadian border last week because of what they said was disrespectful treatment at the hands of immigration officials as they tried to attend the FIFA Congress in Vancouver.
Taj said the decision to
return home had been their own choice but Canada's immigration minister later confirmed to parliament that the FFIRI president's visa had been cancelled while he was in the air because of his links to the IRGC.
Canada listed the IRGC, an elite military force whose purpose is to protect Shi'ite Muslim clerical rule in Iran, as a "terrorist entity" in 2024, five years after the U.S. did the same.
FIFA Secretary-General Mattias Grafstrom sent a letter expressing regret at the "inconvenience and disappointment" the Iranians had experienced in Canada and inviting FFIRI to Zurich on May 20 for a meeting about their World Cup preparations.
Taj told state broadcaster IRIB on Tuesday that he would be seeking assurances from the governing body about the treatment of the Iranian delegation in the U.S.
"We need a guarantee there, for our trip, that they have no right to insult the symbols of our system — especially the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps," he said on the sidelines of a pro-government night rally in Tehran.
"This is something they must pay serious attention to. If there is such a guarantee and the responsibility is clearly assumed, then an incident like what happened in Canada will not happen again."
'OUR HOST IS FIFA'
The U.S., Canada and Mexico are co-hosting the June 11 to July 19 World Cup with Iran scheduled to play two group games in Los Angeles and one in Seattle.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week Washington had no objections to Iranian players participating in the tournament but no one with ties to the IRGC would be admitted to the country.
Taj, who served as a high-ranking official with the IRGC in Isfahan Province before moving into soccer administration, said anything short of cast-iron guarantees could result in the Iranian delegation turning back at the U.S. border.
"We are going to the World Cup, for which we qualified, and our host is FIFA - not Mr. Trump or America," he added.
"If they accept hosting us, then they must also accept that they must not insult our military institutions in any way.
"Because if they do, then naturally it could create the same kind of situation that happened in Canada, where there was a possibility we might have to return.
"So there must be this kind of guarantee so that we can go with peace of mind."
Iran's participation in the World Cup has been in question since the U.S. and Israel launched air strikes on the Islamic Republic in late February.
With Iranian top-flight football suspended, the home-based players have been in a training camp in Tehran preparing for the tournament.
Taj said the FFIRI were hoping to set up at least one friendly with a "very good team" in neighbouring Turkey, where Iran played matches against Nigeria and Costa Rica in late March.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Peter Rutherford)
