Rome, 6 June (LaPresse) – The Iranian embassy in Turkey has criticised the United States, stating that Washington has not disclosed that visas for the World Cup ‘have been denied to most of the management staff, technical advisers and other members’ of the delegation. ‘You have taken the deliberate discriminatory treatment of the Iranian national football team to its highest level, extending your arbitrary hostility towards the Iranian nation to the sporting arena as well,’ reads a post on X. According to Tehran, ‘the US government is effectively depriving the Iranian national team of the right to play in the World Cup under normal conditions and without undue pressure and stress’. ‘This represents the worst possible form of politically motivated interference in sport.’ ‘FIFA must hold the United States accountable for violations of its rules and for the discriminatory treatment of the Iranian national football team,’ the post concludes.