Trump said that it is not appropriate for Iran to participate in the World Cup in America US-Israel war over Iran news

The US president, who won the FIFA Peace Prize, says Iran’s football team is welcome but should not come for its own safety.

Donald Trump has said it would be inappropriate for Iran’s national football team to participate in the FIFA World Cup, which the United States will co-host in the summer.

The US president’s comments on Thursday came after Iranian officials ruled out participation in the football tournament amid US-Israeli attacks against their country.

“The Iranian national soccer team is welcome to the World Cup, but I truly do not believe it is appropriate for them to be there for their own lives and safety,” Trump wrote in an unexplained social media post.

Co-hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada, this year’s World Cup will begin on June 11.

Iran’s group-stage games – against New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt – are scheduled to take place in the US, in the Los Angeles area and in Seattle, Washington.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino, who is close to the US president, said in a social media post on Wednesday that Trump had said the Iranian team would be welcomed in the US.

“Now more than ever we need an event like the FIFA World Cup to bring people together, and I sincerely thank the President of the United States for his support as it shows once again that soccer can unite the world,” Infantino said.

The FIFA president instituted the “Peace Prize” and awarded it to Trump in December last year, drawing criticism from rights advocates who questioned the football governing body’s commitment to political “neutrality”.

Less than four months after accepting the FIFA Peace Prize, Trump launched an all-out offensive against Iran that has turned into a regional war, killing nearly 2,000 people and displacing many more.

FIFA has faced widespread criticism for what critics see as inconsistencies in how it addresses global conflict.

The association was quick to ban Russia after its invasion of Ukraine in 2021, but it has resisted calls to sanction Israel despite its genocidal war in Gaza. The Israeli Football Association’s links to teams based in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank have drawn criticism and calls for a suspension.

With Iran unlikely to participate in the upcoming World Cup, FIFA will decide how to deal with the team’s absence.

“If any Participating Member Association withdraws and/or is excluded from FIFA World Cup 26, FIFA shall decide the matter at its sole discretion and take any action it deems necessary,” the tournament rules read.

“FIFA may decide to replace the participating member association in question with another association.”

It is unclear whether FIFA will have time to replace Iran. A selection may select the highest-ranked team in Asia that did not enter the tournament.

Iran’s Group G can also be played with three teams instead of four with special rules.