May 1 (Reuters) - Iranian soccer federation president Mehdi Taj said Canadian officials cleared him to enter the country for the FIFA Congress, but Iran’s delegation chose to turn back after being held for three hours and questioned at a Toronto airport, Iranian media reported on Friday.
Taj, a former member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said he was questioned by Canadian immigration about his ties to the group, but was ultimately allowed into the country for the pre-World Cup
gathering in Vancouver.
Canadian authorities have said members of the IRGC are prohibited from entering the country, which is set to co-host the World Cup from June along with the United States and Mexico.
"We all had visas and were even checked in Turkey. They told us they had questions for you and asked if we were members of the IRGC," Iran's semi-official news agency Tasnim quoted Taj as saying.
"We told them that there are 90 million IRGC members in Iran. They said that we don’t allow people from this organisation in. They said that it is the laws of our country.
"After a while, they said you can enter but we decided to return. They didn’t deport us and we decided to return ourselves... I told the Canadians that you kept us at the airport for three hours, you made us wait for nothing."
Reuters has contacted Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, which issues visas to travel to the country, for comment.
Taj said FIFA president Gianni Infantino had offered to send a jet to take the Iranian delegation to Canada after they returned to Turkey, but they refused.
"I told the FIFA secretary general (Mattias Grafstrom) that you are intimidated by America and that you say 'yes sir' to whatever they say," he said.
Reuters has reached out to FIFA for comment.
Infantino insisted on Thursday that Iran would play World Cup matches in the United States, despite tensions between the two countries since the U.S. and Israel launched a war against Iran in February. FIFA earlier rejected Tehran's request for alternative venues for matches on U.S. soil.
"We need to hold a meeting with FIFA officials to ensure that if we are to come to the World Cup, there should be no side issues and controversies for our team," Taj said about Iran's participation.
(Reporting by Dubai Newsroom, Writing by Chiranjit Ojha in BengaluruEditing by Toby Davis)
