Baba UmarWashington DC — Andrew Giuliani, the Executive Director of the White House FIFA Task Force, has defended the US handling of the Iranian football team, saying that it was Iran's decision to shift its training base from the US state of Arizona to the Mexican border city of Tijuana and that Washington had no role in that decision.
Giuliani was briefing the media in Washington DC on Wednesday about how the US is managing the ongoing 2026 World Cup as co-hosts.
In response to a question from TRT World regarding the issues that surfaced during the mega event, including the handling of the Iranian team, visa complications, high ticket prices, and inconsistent refereeing decisions — particularly during the Egypt-Argentina match — Giuliani said: "It was their (Iranians) choice to base in Mexico. They had a choice to (stay in Arizona)."
Iran's team had complained about the travel curbs and the challenges it faced since the outbreak of US-Israeli war against Iran in February. Ahead of their flight to US, they said that 15 members of the delegation were denied US visas.
In March, US President Donald Trump wrote on his social media site that "the Iran National Soccer Team is welcome to The World Cup, but I really don't believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety."
Iran's request to relocate its base camp from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, Mexico, was approved by FIFA two weeks before the team's arrival.
The Iranian team was only allowed to travel the day before their first two matches near Los Angeles, a restriction their coach Amir Ghalenoei at the time said disadvantaged the squad.
But Giuliani argued that Iran's choice of Tijuana ensured fair play while preventing anyone with IRGC (Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps) links from entering the US under the guise of a football tournament.
"It's important to point out that the Iranians chose to go to Tijuana. We were happy with that choice. I think the Mexicans were very happy with that choice. I think what we tried to do here on White House task force was apply common sense to making sure the athletes could have fair play on the pitch, while also making sure that anybody with IRGC connections was not going to get into the USA utilising a soccer tournament as that excuse," Giuliani stressed.
Comparing the treatment of the US team, Giuliani noted that the American players, based in Orange County, California, had a longer bus journey to reach the stadium than the flight reserved for the Iranian team.
"They (Iranians) came in the day before the match for Los Angeles. For Seattle, it was two days because we knew that flight was a little over three hours. So we wanted to make sure they (Iranian) had that extra day so we could achieve the parity," he said.
"We let all the players in. We let all the coaches in. There were some officials that we did not let in for that very reason that I gave you before. I think it was very fairly achieved in terms of who was able to come on the pitch. So, I stand by the work that we've done," Giuliani added.
Giuliani on high ticket prices
Giuliani did not comment on the controversy surrounding refereeing decisions in Egypt's 3-2 defeat against Argentina in the World Cup round of 16, but addressed the reasons behind the sharp increase in ticket prices during the tournament.
"I think you can see in terms of the ticket prices, President Trump has said prices were expensive here, undoubtedly. I think that's what happens when you have an event like the FIFA World Cup and ticket demand was, I think it was over 500 million ticket requests that FIFA ended up receiving for what is basically seven million tickets," he said.
Giuliani said the demand for the World Cup is unprecedented, adding FIFA offered some $1000 tickets for just $60, but "many of those tickets went on the secondary market at $10, 20, 30 times the amount depending on who was playing."
President Trump's FIFA Task Force chief also praised the rapid growth of football (called soccer in US) in a country where American football, baseball and basketball dominate the sports culture, noting Major League Soccer's upcoming 30th anniversary and predicting the sport could soon become one of the top two most popular in the country.
"I think it's incredible how it's grown. To think back in 1994 when the World Cup was hosted here in America, there was no major league soccer…. I don't know if we'll ever overtake the National Football League (American football league), or maybe in my lifetime overtaking the National Football League, but it wouldn't surprise me if soccer is one of the top two most popular sports here in the United States."
The US-hosted FIFA World Cup is on track to be the most successful ever, breaking attendance and viewership records while boosting local economies, Giuliani said.
Over 6.5 million fans have attended FIFA World Cup matches so far. With eight games left, attendance is set to nearly double the 1994 record of 3.5 million held by the United States, he added.
Over 1.3 billion people watched the US-Paraguay opening match, while the thrilling Argentina-Cape Verde fixture drew 2.7 billion viewers as Cape Verde nearly pulled off a historic upset.
"What an amazing match that was, and a great story about David almost taking down Goliath," he added.
Giuliani stated that the World Cup has generated significant economic activity for US host cities.
Dallas has projected $2.1 billion in economic activity, while San Francisco is reporting a 99.6 percent attendance capacity, he said, adding, overall attendance for completed matches exceeded 99 percent.
"Something tells me that we have eight sell-outs too for the final eight matches in Kansas City. Organisers have tracked the fans from 157 different countries have already visited their official fan fest," Giuliani said.
Balogun decision
Giuliani was asked why the White House became involved in urging FIFA to overturn the one-match suspension of US player Folarin Balogun after he received a red card during the team's match against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"We found it highly suspicious that there was a referee who had been investigated for match fixing previously, and specifically for irregular red cards, and then when you add to the fact that the process was misapplied by how the VAR was initiated, there for contact fouls, you cannot actually utilise the slow motion in the VAR, and they did that, so when you add those two facts together, there we found it was very, very highly suspicious," Giuliani responded.
"Just like most Americans, I think, just like most people that took an unbiased view of this, and we're happy that US soccer was able to file the appeal, and that we think the correct result was achieved."
FIFA's decision on Balogun, following intervention from the White House and US President Trump, who personally contacted FIFA President Gianni Infantino, has drawn strong criticism from European football governing bodies and opposing teams over alleged political interference in the sport.
Top-scorer Balogun had been key to the US team's progress in the tournament, scoring three times, but his presence against Belgium in Seattle made no difference as the US eventually lost the game 4-1 and were eliminated from the tournament.
