Players on the Canadian men’s soccer team expressed concern over a controversial friendly against Iran, and Canada Soccer confirms that the setback was due to its sudden decision to cancel the event.
“Canada Soccer listened to these private concerns and took them into account as part of the decision-making process,” Canada Soccer wrote in a statement to the media.
The organization also said it has not paid any fees to the Iranian team. Iranian officials had told state-run media that Canada Soccer would pay them $ 400,000 for the exhibition game, which would have allowed the Iranian team to profit from a friendly match for the first time in more than two years. decades.
Now, the Iranian football team says it will claim damages from FIFA of Canada Soccer to cancel the match. Iran’s Deputy Minister of Sports announced that the team is asking for $ 10 million in penalties.
“[Canada Soccer] he simply sent us a letter announcing the termination, “Iranian football team spokesman Mohammad Jamaat wrote in an infrequent reply to CBC News.” No specific details are provided. “
The match was abruptly suspended on Thursday morning in a two-line tweet from Canada Soccer.
The organization issued a statement that night saying it had the best intentions and organized the match to prepare the men’s football team for the next FIFA World Cup in Qatar at the end of the year.
The “unsustainable geopolitical situation of hosting Iran became a significant divide” over the past week, Canada Soccer wrote.
WATCH / Canada Soccer cancels controversial match against Iran
Canada Soccer cancels controversial match against Iran
Canada Soccer officials have canceled an exhibition match against the Iran team that was scheduled in Vancouver in June, saying it has become a “significant division” after the families of the victims of the PS752 flight crash urged the organization to suspend the match.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Conservative MPs and Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart opposed the planned party. B’nai Brith Canada, an independent Jewish human rights organization, said this week it has filed an order with the Federal Court to ban any transfer of Canadian funds to the Iranian football federation.
The families of those who died in the destruction of flight PS752 were especially open. They called the game a slap in the face because their loved ones were killed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran.
The IRGC shot down the commercial aircraft in 2020, killing all 176 passengers and crew members, including 85 Canadians and permanent residents.
Experts say sport and politics are intertwined in Iran and the IRGC has ties to the team.
Iranian national football team coach Hamid Estili (left) with Mahmoud Khazein (right) at a birthday party on April 8th. (Entekhab)
CBC News also reported that the head of the Iranian national football team, Hamid Estili, he recently attended a party with Mahmoud Khazein, a man wanted by the FBI in connection with a plot to hijack international targets, including three people in Canada.
Iranian media say Estili was in Turkey to pick up the team’s Canadian visas on Thursday when Canada Soccer announced it had suspended the match.
Jamaat said Canada Soccer sent a letter to the Iranian football team about the cancellation.
“It was a very strange and unusual event for us, which can be said to be unprecedented,” said Jamaat, who added that the team is now considering their options.
Football journalists have said that Iran has struggled to book friendly matches in the past before the World Cup and that Canada Soccer should have predicted a negative response.
Neither Canada Soccer nor the Iran team provided CBC News with a copy of the contract for the game, saying it is confidential.
More than 40,000 tickets had been sold for the match. Ticket holders will be refunded, Canada Soccer said.
WATCH / Canada to pay $ 400,000 to Iranian team for Vancouver match, according to Iranian official
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.