Iran's World Cup uncertainty leaves Tucson training facility in limbo

(Adds missing quotation mark in paragraph nine)

By Erica Stapleton

TUCSON, Arizona, March 5 : Eighteen months of preparation hang in the balance at a Tucson-based multi-use sports facility, where organisers say they remain in daily contact with FIFA about hosting Iran's national soccer team, even as geopolitical turmoil threatens to upend their World Cup plans.

Iran are scheduled to play their World Cup group stage matches on U.S. soil - two in Los Angeles and one in Seattle - with Tucson's sprawling Kino Sports Complex selected as the team's base camp training site for the June 11-July 19 tournament.

But those plans were thrown into doubt when the U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran began last weekend with strikes that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The campaign entered its sixth day on Thursday.

"We do know there's a lot of geopolitical activities going on right now," Sarah Horvath, director of the Kino Sports Complex, told Reuters. "That being said, we are in communication daily with FIFA. Team Iran is still coming here as of right now, we look forward to hosting them."

ECONOMIC DRIVER FOR THE AREA

Iran qualified for their fourth consecutive World Cup and were drawn into Group G alongside Belgium, Egypt, and New Zealand.

Teams were able to choose from a curated list provided by FIFA which cities they wanted to use as training camps and it was announced last month that Iran, who are 20th in the world rankings, selected the Kino Sports Complex.

The venue, which opened in 1998 and was originally built as a home for Major League Baseball Spring Training, spans more than 300 acres and has 22 soccer fields, including a professional level soccer stadium, among its amenities. It is also home to USL League Two side FC Tucson.

"Havi