Canada Soccer says it is canceling a controversial exhibition match against Iran scheduled for next month in Vancouver.
The international match – scheduled for June 5 as part of preparations for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar later this year – provoked the contempt of the families of those who died aboard flight PS752 when the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shot down the plane in 2020.
All 176 passengers and crew on board the plane died, including 85 Canadians and permanent residents.
Families said the exhibition match was an insult to those still seeking justice for their loved ones, especially given the lingering concerns about possible IRGC ties to the Iran team. .
“We are pleased,” said Hamed Esmaeilion, a spokesman for the association that represents the families of the victims in Canada. “That’s the decent thing to do, and it should end there.”
Canada Soccer made the announcement on Twitter on Thursday. He promised to provide additional details to all ticket buyers. The football organization has not yet explained why it has canceled the match or responded to the relatives of the victims who have written letters asking for answers.
Esmaeilion said Canada Soccer is not being transparent and the public deserves to know why this game was booked in the first place, who was behind it and why it has been canceled now.
Canada Soccer has canceled the international match scheduled for June 5, 2022 against Iran as part of the men’s national team preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar ™. Additional details will be provided to all ticket buyers. pic.twitter.com/7GhKT5toa7
– @CanadaSoccerEN
According to Iranian state media, Saeed Khatibzadeh, a spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, accused Canada on Tuesday of politicizing the next party. Khatibzadeh told Press TV that if the match is canceled, Canada Soccer will be held responsible for any breach of its agreement with the Iranian team.
CBC News reported Tuesday that the head of the Iran team said that Canada Soccer would pay the Iran football federation $ 400,000 for the game.
Team director Hamid Estili told Iranian state-affiliated media that the payment would mark the first time in more than two decades that Iran’s football federation has benefited from a friendly match. .
Canada Soccer did not confirm or deny this amount, but said it was common practice to pay visiting team fees to cover expenses.
Canada Soccer received more than $ 3 million in federal funding this fiscal year. The government says none of the money went to the party.
Sports Minister Pascale St-Onge told CBC News that the government “praises Canada Soccer for making that decision” and is looking forward to cheering on the Canada team during the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
Ukraine’s designated ambassador to Canada, Yulia Kovaliv, is now calling on Canada Soccer to have a friendly match with the Ukrainian football team.
“And 400,000 could be used for the humanitarian needs of Ukrainians affected by the war in Russia,” Kovaliv wrote. “I guess it’s win-win.”
The Ukrainian football team is ready to play with pic.twitter.com/woD2iVydw6
& mdash; @kovaliv_y
The football organization was under increasing political pressure to suspend the almost exhausted match at BC Place.
Ralph Goodale, Canada’s high commissioner to the UK and former Canadian special adviser on PS752 flight, tweeted on Wednesday that Canada Soccer’s behavior is “disgusting” and “calls into question both competition and the organisation’s values”.
Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart also condemned the game. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated earlier this week that he thought the game was “a bad idea” and distanced his government from the party and its funding.
TARGET | Canada Soccer pays the Iranian team for the match:
Canada Soccer will pay $ 400,000 to the Iran team for a controversial football match
There is growing controversy surrounding an exhibition match scheduled between Canadian and Iranian football teams in Vancouver for June. CBC News reports that Canada Soccer will pay $ 400,000 to the Iran Football Federation for the game, and that the Iran team leader attended a party with a man wanted by the FBI in connection with an alleged plot to hijack international targets.
Conservative MPs Matt Jeneroux and Richard Martel called Canada Soccer’s decision to invite and pay the Iran team “unacceptable”.
“Receiving the Iranian national football team as victims of the PS752 flight is still suffering and asking for compensation is reprehensible and will only serve to further legitimize the Iranian regime,” the deputies wrote in a statement to the media.
The families of the victims also wrote letters to Canadian Public Safety officials on Tuesday to worry about their own safety. The Security Intelligence Service of Canada says the families of the victims have reported being harassed, threatened and intimidated by IRGC representatives.
Hamed Esmaeilion at a football game with his daughter Reera, who was also a football player. Reera, 9, died on PS752 with her mother Parisa Eghbalian. (Submitted by Hamed Esmaeilion)
Experts say politics and sport in Iran are intertwined, with the IRGC directly or indirectly controlling many sports organizations, including football clubs.
How CBC News first reportedThe photos taken last month show the head of Iran’s football team, Hamid Estili, attending a party with an alleged Iranian intelligence informant linked to the IRGC who is wanted by the FBI.
At the time of the party, there had been an arrest warrant in the US for the arrest of Mahmoud Khazein for almost a year. He was wanted on charges related to conspiracy to kidnap international targets, including three people in Canada. The FBI is now investigating the matter, according to a person at the center of the alleged kidnapping scheme.
Estili did not respond to CBC’s request for comment, which was posted on Instagram last week.
Longtime sports journalist and CBC News contributor John Molinaro said it looks like Canada Soccer only saw the game as a way for the Canadian team to prepare for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and did not take into account the consequences of public relations.
Iran ranks 21st in the FIFA Men’s World Rankings. Canada ranks 38th.
Esmaeilion said he now wants the federal government to include the entire IRGC in its list of terrorist organizations, as the U.S. has done. Currently, only one clandestine branch of the IRGC is listed as a terrorist organization in Canada.
TARGET | The families of the victims want to cancel the match:
The families of the victims of flight PS752 outraged by Canada’s football match with Iran
The families of the victims of the fall of flight PS752 are asking Canada Soccer to cancel a planned match with the Iranian football team, saying that they feel betrayed by the move.