Iran will be banned from the FIFA World Cup 2022; who will take their place?
Iran's participation in the FIFA World Cup 2022 is in doubt as a result of the Iranian government's activities and their involvement in the Ukraine crisis.
Iran will play England in their opening match at the Khalifa International Stadium on November 21. Iran is in Group B with England, Wales, and the USA.
Following the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, while in the custody of Iranian security, tensions have risen over Iran's involvement in the conflict in Ukraine and ongoing hostilities.
Amini was detained by moral police last month for failing to properly cover her hair with the hijab, an Islamic head covering that is required for Iranian women. Three days after collapsing at a police station, Amini passed away, and the subsequent disturbance was sparked by her passing.
We examine the reasons Iran might be banned from the World Cup in Qatar. Here is all the information you want to know.
This week, Iran was charged with breaking a Security Council ban on the transfer of drones with a range of 180 miles at the UN by Ukraine. In 2015, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution supporting the nuclear agreement between Iran and six countries, including the US, Russia, China, Britain, France, and Germany, with the goal of limiting Tehran's nuclear activities and preventing the country from developing a nuclear weapon. The UK, France, and the US strongly support Ukraine's claims that the drones were transferred to Russia and violate this agreement.
As part of Russian drone attacks on Ukraine's power stations and other vital infrastructure, the White House has claimed that Iranian troops are "directly engaged on the ground" in Crimea. The British government has also claimed that members of an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps branch were sent to help Russian forces use the drones.
The US government said that it has alarming proof of Tehran's growing support for Russia as it inflicts agony on civilians in Ukraine just as winter is about to arrive. The use of drones provided by Iran as well as the Kalibr and Iskander cruise missiles by the Russians in recent days has increased as they launch a barrage of attacks against Ukrainian infrastructure and non-military targets.
According to the US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, Iran has sent a "very limited number" of individuals to Crimea, a region of Ukraine that Russia illegally and unilaterally invaded in 2014, to help Russian forces in launching drones manufactured in Iran against Ukraine.
To make it more difficult for Iran to sell weapons to Russia, the US is thinking about following the UK and putting sanctions on the country.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly stated in announcing further sanctions related to the use of Iranian drones in Ukraine: "Iran's support for Putin's illegitimate war in Ukraine is more confirmation of its destabilising influence in global security.
"We are imposing sanctions on the drone vendors that provided the cowardly strikes on Ukrainian civilian targets and vital infrastructure."
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Russia's chair, Labour MP Chris Bryant, stated that FIFA should consider Iran's participation in the World Cup owing to the support Iran is supplying Ukraine.
"Sports organisations from all around the world, in every sport, should closely monitor Iran's clear involvement with and backing of Putin's illegitimate invasion of Ukraine. Sports achievement is cherished by autocratic governments. We ought to take away their chance.
The body has received a written request asking it to suspend the Iranian Football Association from a group of Iranian football and sports figures.
Iran's violence and belligerence toward its own people had reached a breaking point, the organisation claimed in an open letter, "demanding an unequivocal and firm disassociation from the footballing and sports world."
"In complete opposition to Fifa's values and regulations, women have been regularly denied entry to stadiums all around nation and systematically barred from the Iranian football environment.
"The Iranian Football Federation cannot be viewed as an autonomous organisation free from any form or kind of influence if women are not permitted into stadiums across the nation and they are just sticking to and enforcing government guidelines. The Fifa statutes' (Article 19) are broken by this.
Iran does not have a formal restriction on women accessing sporting venues where men are competing, but they are regularly turned away.
Who would take Iran's place in FIFA World Cup 2022?
Rumors suggested that Italy would gain from Iran's potential expulsion, with the country with the highest coefficient in the world rankings taking their place. FIFA president Gianni Infantino, however, rejected this idea.
In response to Russia's illegitimate invasion of Ukraine, an open letter was submitted to FIFA and comparable sanctions were imposed on Russia for qualifying.
In a combined UEFA and FIFA statement that further isolates Russia's sporting condition amid the invasion of Ukraine, both UEFA and FIFA withdrew Russia from all matches until "football can again be a pathway for unity and peace."
"All Russian teams, whether national representative teams or club teams, shall be suspended from participation in both FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice," read the statement. "Following the initial decisions adopted by the FIFA Council and the UEFA Executive Committee, which envisaged the adoption of additional measures.
The Executive Committee of UEFA and the Bureau of the FIFA Council, respectively, the highest decision-making bodies of both institutions on such critical situations, adopted these judgments today.
"The entire football community stands together and in complete solidarity with all those impacted in Ukraine. Both presidents anticipate a quick and significant improvement in the situation so that football can once more serve as a catalyst for racial harmony and peace."
FIFA must now determine whether the opinions of the government are represented by their team.
