Iranian FA chief says FIFA guarantees over IRGC respect essential for World Cup trip

May 6 : Iranian FA (FFIRI) chief Mehdi Taj says FIFA must guarantee that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is not insulted by the United States if the national team is to travel to the country to play at the World Cup in June.

An FFIRI delegation, including Taj, turned back from the Canadian border last week because of what they said was disrespectful treatment at the hands of immigration officials as they tried to attend the FIFA Congress in Vancouver.

Taj said the decision to return home had been their own choice but Canada's immigration minister later confirmed to parliament that the FFIRI president's visa had been cancelled while he was in the air because of his links to the IRGC.

Canada listed the IRGC, an elite military force whose purpose is to protect Shi'ite Muslim clerical rule in Iran, as a "terrorist entity" in 2024, five years after the U.S. did the same.

FIFA Secretary-General Mattias Grafstrom sent a letter expressing regret at the "inconvenience and disappointment" the Iranians had experienced in Canada and inviting FFIRI to Zurich on May 20 for a meeting about their World Cup preparations. 

Taj told state broadcaster IRIB on Tuesday that he would be seeking assurances from the governing body about the treatment of the Iranian delegation in the U.S.     

"We need a guarantee there, for our trip, that they have no right to insult the symbols of our system — especially the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps," he said on the sidelines of a pro-government night rally in Tehran. 

"This is something they must pay serious attention to. If there is such a guarantee and the responsibility is clearly assumed, then an incident like what happened in Canada will not happen again."

'OUR HOST IS FIFA'

The U.S., Canada