TORONTO, Canada – Iranian football federation officials have been denied entry into Canada ahead of a FIFA meeting, just weeks before the start of the World Cup.
According to a statement first reported by Tehran’s Tasnim News Agency, the delegation including federation president and former member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Mehdi Taj, was turned back at Toronto Pearson Airport after what it described as “the unacceptable behaviour of immigration officials”.
The officials had travelled to Toronto on valid visas to attend the FIFA Congress, a gathering of all 211 member associations ahead of this summer’s tournament, which begins on June 11 and is being co-hosted by Canada, the United States, and Mexico.
The federation condemned the treatment, calling it “an insult to one of the most honourable organs of the Iranian nation’s armed forces”, and said the delegation “returned to Turkey on the first available flight”.
Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand later said it was her “understanding” that the officials had been denied entry, but that the decision was “unintentional”.
“It’s not my personal lead, but my understanding is that there is a revocation of the permission. It was unintentional, but I’ll leave it to the minister to indicate,” she said, referring to Immigration Minister Lena Diab.
Diab’s press secretary, Taous Ait, said individual cases could not be discussed, but stressed Canada’s policy on IRGC-linked individuals.
“Members of the IRGC – listed as a terrorist organisation in Canada since 2024 – are inadmissible to Canada and have no place in our country.”
“We have taken strong action to hold the IRGC to account and will continue to do so, while protecting the safety of Canadians and upholding the integrity of our immigration system.”
The Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, a Canadian NGO, noted that special permission had initially been granted.
“The Canadian government had granted Taj special permission to enter Canada for a FIFA event.
He would otherwise have been inadmissible due to his affiliation with the IRGC, which Canada formally recognised as a terrorist entity.”
