Conservatives are joining a growing number of calls for Canada Soccer to cancel a controversial exhibition match against Iran scheduled for next month in Vancouver.
The families of those killed on board PS752 when the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shot down the plane in 2020, killing all 176 passengers and crew members, including 85 Canadians and permanent residents, say they have planned to protest outside the stadium if the match progresses.
Families say they see the exhibition party as an insult because they want justice for their loved ones, especially given the lingering concerns about possible IRGC ties to the Iran team.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said it was a bad idea for Canada Soccer to invite the Iranian football team to BC Vancouver. Mayor Kennedy Stewart has also condemned the party. Canadian High Commissioner to the UK and former PS752 Flight Adviser Ralph Goodale tweeted on Wednesday that Canada Soccer’s behavior is “disgusting” and “calls into question both competition and the organisation’s values”.
Conservative MPs Matt Jeneroux and Richard Martel are now calling on Canada Soccer to eliminate the almost-exhausted match.
“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.
CBC News reported this week that the head of Iran’s football team said he would make a profit with the friendly match for the first time in 22 years.
Team director Hamed Style told Iranian state-affiliated media that Canada Soccer is paying the Iranian football federation $ 400,000 for the June 5 friendly match.
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.
Canada Soccer did not confirm the aforementioned sum, but said it is common practice in international football to pay visiting teams an appearance fee to cover travel expenses.
Style said that after the team covers its expenses, it expects to accumulate $ 200,000.
“Paying the team $ 400,000 as a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which the House of Commons has asked the Trudeau government to include as a terrorist entity, has taken over directly and indirectly from Iran’s sports clubs during the last 20 years is simply unacceptable. ” wrote Jeneroux and Martel.
Canada has only placed a portion of the IRGC on its terrorism list, despite a 2018 Commonwealth resolution calling on the federal government to designate the IRGC in its entirety as a terrorist entity.
Politico reported on Tuesday that U.S. President Joe Biden has now finalized his decision to keep the IRGC on the U.S. blacklist of terrorists.
In addition to concerns about the game, Estili was photographed at a birthday party in Tehran last month with an alleged Iranian intelligence informant with links to the IRGC being sought by the FBI.
Iranian national football team coach Hamid Estili (left) with Mahmoud Khazein (right) at a birthday party on April 8th. (Entekhab)
There is an arrest warrant for Mahmoud Kahzein related to an alleged plot to hijack international targets, including three people in Canada. The FBI is now investigating possible links between the two men, according to one of the victims.
The association representing the families of the victims of flight PS752 recently wrote a letter to the Minister of Public Security, Marco Mendicino, expressing concerns about their safety.
The Security Intelligence Service of Canada has confirmed that the families of the victims have been harassed, threatened and intimidated by IRGC representatives. The letter suggests that IRGC members could travel with the team to Canada disguised as doctors, physiotherapists or others who manage the team’s logistics.
Trudeau said Tuesday it would be up to the Canadian Border Services agency to determine whether the Iranian football team could enter the country.
In a conversation with reporters in Tehran on Wednesday, Estili said the team does not yet have its Canadian visas. He said the team is making last-minute preparations and has difficulty arranging the trip and covering the expenses. He also said that visas will not be issued unless they are picked up at a specific time in Turkey.
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.
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 the Iranian football federation has made arrangements for the match and Iran will hold Canada responsible for any breach of its agreement with Canada Soccer.
Although some in the Iranian-Canadian community have called for the game to be canceled, several people have contacted CBC to say they welcome the match.
Iran ranks 21st in the FIFA Men’s World Rankings. Canada ranks 38th.
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.
The federal government gave Canada Soccer more than $ 3 million in funding for this fiscal year, but says none of the money went to the men’s team or this game.