"Fifa's general secretary, Mattias Grafstrom, said on Saturday that our focus is to have a safe World Cup with everybody participating, but the president of the Iranian Football Federation, Mehdi Taj, has raised doubts over his country's participation by saying: After this attack, we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope."
"Fifa's World Cup regulations are vague on replacing a team that have qualified for the finals, stating only that it has sole discretion to take whatever action is deemed necessary, and that it may decide to replace the participating member association in question with another association."
"If Iraq fail to qualify, Fifa sources have indicated they would be first in line to replace Iran if necessary. If Iraq do reach the finals any place may default to the UAE, the next highest-ranked country from Asia not to have a place at the finals."
FIFA maintains its commitment to conducting the World Cup as scheduled starting June 11, despite potential complications from regional tensions. Iran's participation remains uncertain following recent conflict, with the Iranian Football Federation president expressing doubts about the country's involvement. FIFA's regulations grant it discretionary authority to replace any qualified team, though such withdrawal would be unprecedented in the modern era. Should Iran withdraw, replacement would likely come from the Asian Football Confederation. Iraq and the UAE are identified as the most probable replacements, with Iraq currently competing in an intercontinental playoff and the UAE positioned as the next-highest-ranked Asian nation without World Cup qualification.
#world-cup-replacement-protocols #iran-withdrawal-uncertainty #fifa-regulations #asian-football-confederation #iraq-and-uae-qualification
Read at www.theguardian.com
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