Coupe du monde: un émissaire de Trump veut remplacer l'Iran par l'Italie
Paolo Zampolli confirmed to the FT that he had suggested the improbable scenario to the US president and Gianni Infantino, the FIFA president.
"I am Italian by birth and it would be a dream to see the Squadra Azzurra in a tournament organized in the United States. With four titles, it has the pedigree to justify its inclusion," he said, after Italy's third consecutive elimination in the competition's playoffs.
In recent weeks, Mr. Infantino has asserted that Iran will compete in the World Cup, jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19.
"Iran will be at the World Cup" and will play its first round matches as planned on US soil, he told AFP at the end of March on the sidelines of an Iranian friendly match near Antalya (Turkey).
"Iran must come, they represent their people, they have qualified, the players want to play," he had again stated in mid-April at an economic conference organized by the CNBC television network in Washington, while hoping for a "peaceful situation" in the Middle East next summer.
The Iranian national team is scheduled to play its three Group G matches in Los Angeles against New Zealand (June 16) and Belgium (June 21), followed by a match in Seattle against Egypt (June 27). Their training camp is expected to be located in Tucson, Arizona.
At the start of the conflict in the Middle East triggered by the United States and Israel on February 28, Iran had mentioned a "boycott" of the competition, before asking FIFA to move its matches from the United States to Mexico.
On this point, "the matches will be where they should be, according to the draw," the head of world football, whose explicit collusion with Donald Trump has sparked some criticism, told AFP.
FIFA regulations give the organization the power to decide on its own what measures to take if a team, in this case Iran, were to withdraw.
This "proposal" also comes as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, one of Trump's closest allies on the Old Continent, has recently distanced herself from Israel and the United States, drawing the ire of President Donald Trump.
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