Will FIFA exclude Iran from the World Cup in Qatar?
The Iranian national football team is in danger of being excluded from the World Cup finals in Qatar, after the incident that prevented women from attending the match between Iran and Lebanon in the qualifiers, and the violation of agreements with FIFA.
According to Italian news website FootballItalia, Iranian football member Mehrdad Saradski wrote on his Twitter account that he had heard disturbing news from FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation about what happened in the Iran-Lebanon match.
The website said one of the harshest penalties FIFA could impose on the Iranian national team because of the ban on women from attending the Lebanon World Cup qualifiers is its exclusion from participating in the World Cup in Qatar at the end of this year.
The Iranian news agency ISNA reported yesterday that about 2000 Iranian women bought tickets for the Iran-Lebanon match. They were in the vicinity of Imam Reza Stadium in the city of Mashhad, but were unable to enter the stadium.
Mashhad Governor Mohsen Davari told the Irib public channel: I apologize for the inability of many people to enter the stadium and watch the match between the Iranian and Lebanese teams.
He continued: Unfortunately, a large number of people outside the stadium were deprived of watching the match, and it was not possible for them to enter the stadium.
Iran officially qualified for the Qatar World Cup before the last round of Asian qualifiers began last Tuesday. Their match against Lebanon was a success.
