The Guardian:

Paul MacInnes

Iran has reversed its boycott of the World Cup draw, with team representatives now due to attend the glitzy event in Washington DC on Friday.

Last week the Iranian Football Federation (FFIRI) said it would stay away after three members of its delegation were denied visas for entering the United States.

On Thursday, however, the Iranian sports minister, Ahmad Donyamali, told the Iranian news agency Irna that the head coach, Amir Ghalenoei, would be among those attending. “Our representatives have a visa and should participate in the World Cup draw,” he said.

The Tehran Times suggested Ghalenoei would travel to the US with Omid Jamali, the head of the federation’s international relations department.

Iran is one of 19 countries whose citizens are restricted from entering the US, after a directive issued by Donald Trump in June. An exemption to the ban was granted to athletes, coaches or “persons performing a necessary support role” who were travelling for the World Cup. The Iranian federation said last week it had applied for seven visas but that three names had been rejected by the US, including the president of the FFIRI, Mehdi Taj.

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