The incident led to Iran being the only absentee from the 211-member FIFA congress in Vancouver on Thursday, as the entire delegation cut short their trip and returned home.
Amirmahdi Alavi, the FFIRI spokesman, detailed the events that forced Taj and his colleagues to abandon their onward journey after landing in Toronto.
“When they entered the country, the hosts held up the Iranian delegation for hours in a disrespectful manner,” Alavi told Iranian media.
He said Taj was asked an offensive question about one of Iran’s proud armed forces branches, a clear reference to Canada’s 2024 blacklisting of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps as a “terrorist organization.”
“The head of the federation responded with a beautiful and thought-provoking statement, declaring that Iran has 90 million members of the IRGC, all of whom stand proudly by their country,” Alavi said.
Taj had traveled to Canada purely for sports as AFC vice-president, the spokesman added.
Alavi strongly rejected the Canadian government’s characterization of Iran’s security forces.
“The term ‘terrorist’ applies to those who, in a savage aggression against our country, martyred nearly 186 students at the Shajareh Tayyebeh school in Minab, martyrs we can never forget, including dear Makan Nasiri, who at seven years old is still missing,” he said.
Alavi said that while the Iranian delegation was in Istanbul on their way back, FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom called Taj two or three times via video link to condemn Canada’s actions.
“The head of the federation criticized FIFA’s weak stance, telling him: ‘When you can’t protect the head of a federation, how can we be sure that players will not face the same treatment?’” Alavi recounted.
He added that Taj told Grafstrom that FIFA is “too intimidated by America, and whatever you are told, you say ‘yes.’”
According to the spokesman, FIFA has since sent an official letter apologizing, condemning Canada’s behavior, and inviting Taj to a special meeting to discuss guarantees for the national team’s participation in the World Cup, including the presence of journalists, fans, players and officials.
MNA
