Former Director of Football Regulatory at FIFA, James Kitching, has revealed how Iran may be punished if they officially withdraw from the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Following the joint US-Israeli strike on Iran, which killed the nation’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on 28 February, conflict has ravaged the Middle East.
Khamenei has since been succeeded by his son Mojtaba.
Iran responded with retaliatory strikes against several Middle Eastern nations, including Israel, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Cyprus.
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Conflict has also broken out in Lebanon between Israeli forces and the Iran-backed Shia militant group Hezbollah, with thousands of fatalities reported, while masses have been displaced within the region.
Sport has also been impacted by the ongoing conflict, with seven members of Iran’s women’s team granted asylum following the Asian Cup in Australia.
However, one member changed her mind and decided to return to Iran.
Concerns also remain about the Iran men’s team’s participation in the 2026 World Cup, with the nation having already qualified.
Iran are currently scheduled to play all of their World Cup group matches – against Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand – in the US.
But it remains unclear whether they will compete, with the country’s Minister of Sports and Youth Ahmad Donyamali saying during an interview with IRIB Sports Network that “under no circumstances do we have the appropriate conditions to participate in the World Cup”.
He added: “Our boys are not safe, and conditions for participation do not exist.
"… Over the past eight or nine months, two wars have been imposed on us, and several thousand of our people have been killed and martyred. Therefore, we definitely do not have the possibility for participation."
This came after FIFA President Gianni Infantino claimed that US President Donald Trump told him that Iran are “welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States” following a preparation meeting on Wednesday (11 March).
And if Iran do boycott the tournament, which will be co-hosted by Mexico, the US and Canada, they may face FIFA sanctions according to the organisation’s former Director of Football Regulatory, Kitching.
Speaking to Reuters, Kitching explained: "There's no modern precedent for this and, according to FIFA's own tournament regulations, they have full discretion to do whatever they want in the case of a team withdrawing.
"That means, for example, a team that withdraws wouldn't have to be replaced by a team from the same confederation, or even replaced at all. Whether either of those scenarios would be politically tenable is a different question.
"The tournament regulations also provide disciplinary sanctions for any federation whose team withdraws. However, if Iran withdrew for any reason related to this current conflict, I doubt FIFA would impose any sanctions given the circumstances."
Despite Kitching stating that he doubts FIFA would impose sanctions, the 2026 FIFA World Cup regulations say that “any Participating Member Association that withdraws from the FIFA World Cup 26 no later than 30 days before the first match of the final competition shall be fined at least CHF 250,000 by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee. Any Participating Member Association that withdraws from the FIFA World Cup 26 fewer than 30 days before the first match of the final competition shall be fined at least CHF 500,000 by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee. Participating Member Associations that withdraw from the FIFA World Cup 26 at any time will be required to reimburse the team preparation money as well as any other tournament related contribution payments that they received from FIFA”.
Iran’s first group game is scheduled to take place against New Zealand in California on 16 June.
Topics: FIFA World Cup, Football, FIFA
Luke Davies