Fifa president shatters hopes of Nigerian fans insisting that Iran will participate in World Cup

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has shattered the hopes of Nigerian football fans who are still holding on to the forlorn hope that the Super Eagles might get to go to the World Cup by declaring that Iran will be participating in the tournament.

In February, war broke out between Iran on the one hand and the US/Israel on the other when Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni was killed in an air strike. These US-Israeli strikes on February 28, threw into doubt Iran’s participation at this summer’s men’s football World Cup, jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico and the US.

In the immediate aftermath of the airstrikes that sparked off the war, Iran warned that it may pull out of the World Cup if its three group games are all scheduled to take place in the US. Also, the presence of Iran at the competition had been questioned as the security of their players might not be guaranteed in what will be a hostile environment.

Nigerian football fans had secretly been hoping that if Iran pulled out of the tournament, it might create an opening, which the Super Eagles could fill. President Donald Trump has further complicated the situation, as he recently stated that he could not guarantee the safety of the Iranian team should they choose to compete in the tournament.

​Despite these tensions, Mr Infantino has clarified that Iran remains a central part of the World Cup schedule. Fifa does not have a definitive, standing rule on how a vacated slot is filled in such unique circumstances, although logic would point to the next team in Iran's Asian confederation, which in this case would be the United Arab Emirates, rather than Nigeria.