TEHRAN: Top Iranian football officials have left Canada before the start of the FIFA Congress due to the inappropriate behaviour of officials during immigration checks at Toronto’s international airport, Iranian media reported Wednesday.

The global football body’s gathering of member nation representatives will be held this week in Vancouver, the British Columbia city which is also hosting seven matches in the World Cup that Canada will co-host with the United States and Mexico this summer.

The Iranian football federation (FFIRI) president, secretary general and deputy secretary general “returned to Turkiye on the first flight due to the inappropriate behaviour of the immigration officials at the airport and the insult to one of the most honourable organs of the Iranian Armed Forces”, several outlets reported, without providing further details.

Doubt had risen over the Iranian team’s attendance at the World Cup because of the US-Israel war on Iran. However, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said last month Iran would be at the World Cup. Later, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted Iran’s footballers would be welcome at the global spectacle.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2026