{"id":73955,"date":"2026-04-24T18:24:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T13:24:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinaurdu.com\/eng\/?p=73955"},"modified":"2026-04-24T18:24:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T13:24:06","slug":"fifa-rejects-replacing-iran-with-italy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinaurdu.com\/eng\/?p=73955","title":{"rendered":"FIFA rejects replacing Iran with Italy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>FIFA has dismissed speculation about replacing Iran with Italy in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, despite ongoing geopolitical tensions involving the United States and Israel.<\/p>\n<p>According to a report by international media, FIFA officials have made it clear that there is no plan to alter Iran\u2019s participation in the upcoming global tournament.<\/p>\n<p>The speculation emerged after Paolo Zampolli, a special envoy linked to the US administration, reportedly suggested that Italy be considered as a replacement for Iran under current circumstances. However, the proposal was firmly rejected by football\u2019s world governing body.<\/p>\n<p>FIFA President Gianni Infantino recently reaffirmed that Iran will \u201ccertainly\u201d take part in the tournament, putting an end to uncertainty surrounding the team\u2019s status.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the Iranian embassy strongly criticised the suggestion, terming it an example of \u201cmoral bankruptcy\u201d on the part of the United States.<\/p>\n<p>Italian authorities have also distanced themselves from the proposal. Italy\u2019s sports officials emphasised that World Cup qualification is strictly determined by on-field performance, not political considerations.<\/p>\n<p>It is worth noting that four-time world champions Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for the third consecutive time, further reinforcing FIFA\u2019s stance against any administrative inclusion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FIFA has dismissed speculation about replacing Iran with Italy in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, despite ongoing geopolitical tensions involving the United States and Israel. According to a report by international media, FIFA officials have made it clear that there is no plan to alter Iran\u2019s participation in the upcoming global tournament. The speculation emerged [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":73956,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,136],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[213],"class_list":{"0":"post-73955","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-latest","8":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>FIFA rejects replacing Iran with Italy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/chinaurdu.com\/eng\/?p=73955\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"FIFA rejects replacing Iran with Italy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"FIFA has dismissed speculation about replacing Iran with Italy in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, despite ongoing geopolitical tensions involving the United States and Israel. 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