US President Donald Trump has stated that he is considering replacing the Iranian national team with Italy in the upcoming World Cup.
During a meeting with journalists at the White House, the US President called the possibility of replacing the Iranian team with Italy interesting. "Let me think a little," he said, asking Secretary of State Marco Rubio to comment on the proposal.
The US Secretary of State, for his part, said that "the US has not told Iranian athletes not to come": "Iran's problem is not their athletes, but the people they want to bring with them – some of whom may have ties to the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps). They have decided not to come themselves. We did not want to harm the athletes."
Some time ago, the Financial Times reported that the US President's Global Partnership representative Paolo Zampolli had proposed replacing the Iranian national team with Italy in the upcoming World Cup and that this proposal had been conveyed to both the US President and FIFA President Gianni Infantino./Musavat.com