Iran head coach Amir Ghalenoei has criticized World Cup organizers and U.S. officials over what he says has been poor planning affecting his team’s preparation during the tournament.
Iran’s latest complaint came after a 0-0 draw with Belgium in Los Angeles on Sunday, with Ghalenoei arguing that his players had been given far less recovery and training time than their opponents.
The team’s participation in the tournament has already come with a series of logistical problems, according to Ghalenoei, who believes the situation has disrupted preparation and could ultimately influence results on the pitch.
The difficulties began even before kickoff, after several members of Iran’s soccer staff reportedly had their visas denied for entry to the U.S. Iran’s squad was also moved from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, Mexico, forcing players to cross the border for their Group G fixtures.
Ghalenoei said the bigger issue was the lack of consistency in how restrictions and travel arrangements had been handled from one match to the next.
According to reporting on the coach’s post-match remarks, Iran had less than 16 hours to prepare for the Belgium match, leaving the squad with significantly less time than normal on the training ground.
He said: “We only managed to train half the time we usually spend on training. We wanted to have optimal physical and technical preparation.
“Look at the Belgium team,” he added. “They arrived yesterday noon. They’ve managed to have proper training.”
“The conditions have become even harder,” he claimed.
Ghalenoei also said Iran had now been permitted to arrange its own travel plans before its final group-stage game against Egypt in Seattle on Friday, June 26. However, he questioned why that freedom was not granted earlier in the tournament.
He said: “For the third game, they’ve allowed us to decide to make our own decisions with regards to planning the travel. But what my problem is, why didn’t they let us come earlier for the first two games as well? If they’ve managed to do this now, why didn’t they do that for our first game and for this game?”
His complaints were not limited to training time, with travel arrangements also becoming a point of frustration.
“We were in war conditions for six months, we didn’t have our league operating,” Ghalenoei said. “We had only one FIFA [friendly] date and it took us 40 hours to go and play a match outside of Iran. And our league was not operating and everybody knows about the visa situation, and they know what happened to us coming to the U.S.”
The coach has previously described Iran as “the most oppressed team” at the World Cup after his side was told to leave the U.S. immediately following its opening draw with New Zealand, rather than staying overnight to recover before returning to its base in Mexico.
As reported by The Post, Ghalenoei said the team had to return to Mexico immediately after drawing with Belgium, cutting into crucial recovery time for his players.
“We’ve only been here 16 hours and we have to fly back at 4 p.m.,” the coach said. “We don’t even have enough time to recover. And our players have needed time to recover, to be prepared, but we need to go to the airport and go back to Tijuana.”