Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Monday that she has “no issue” with her country hosting Iran’s World Cup team after its training base was moved from the United States to Mexico for the summer soccer competition.
The team will still play its group stage matches in the US but its base has been moved to Tijuana, Mexico, just south of San Diego, California, a move that Iran’s football federation announced recently and that was formally confirmed by Fifa, the sport’s governing body, on Monday.
Moving the training base comes against the backdrop of the war in Iran, which the US and Israel launched on February 28.
Sheinbaum said at a news conference on Monday that she was told by a Fifa representative the US was reluctant to have the Iranian football team spend time outside the games on US territory.
“The United States doesn’t want the Iranian national team to stay overnight in the United States,” Sheinbaum told reporters. She said a Fifa representative had then asked if they can stay overnight in Mexico.
“And we said yes, no problem. We have no issue with that,” Sheinbaum said.
Iran’s football team is scheduled to play matches in Inglewood, California, against New Zealand on June 15 and against Belgium six days later, before facing Egypt on June 26 in Seattle.
