The NCRI‑US Sports Commission has issued the following statement addressing concerns related to athletes, governance, and the 2026 FIFA World Cup on June 2, 2026.
After 47 years of repression, executions, and massacres carried out by the religious fascism ruling Iran, especially following the January 2026 uprising and massacre, the time has come for the theocracy ruling Iran to be expelled from the International Football Federation (FIFA), as was the case regarding the Apartheid regime in South Africa in the 1960s.
The Sports Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran asks FIFA not to allow the medieval clerical dictatorship to misuse the World Cup matches to lend legitimacy to the oppression of the Iranian people, especially the Iranian athletes. South Africa only gained access to FIFA and global tournaments after the fall of Apartheid.
To better control athletes and sports environments, and to further plunder and loot, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has been elevated to dominate major parts of Iran’s sports, particularly football.
The Iranian Football Federation is under the control of the IRGC, which is listed as a terrorist organization by both the United States and the European Union.
The head of the football federation—who accompanies the Iranian regime’s team in competitions—is a criminal IRGC commander and a repressive figure named Mehdi Taj. The government of Canada recently blocked his entry into Canada.
In the past 47 years, the religious dictatorship has arrested, tortured, and/or executed hundreds of the best athletes and national champions, or killed them during street protests. More prominent athletes have been banned from sports arenas and international competitions for the slightest opposition to the regime.
Only during the people’s uprising in Iran last January, a significant number of young Iranian athletes were killed and executed.
On behalf of the athletes who fell for freedom, such as Habib Khabiri (captain of the national team and member of the Iranian national football team in the 1978 World Cup qualifying matches), Alaeddin Etrati Koushali (soccer player, member of the Iran Under-23 national football team), Mahshid Razaghi (soccer player), Forozan Abdī (member of the Iranian women’s national volleyball team), Houshang Montazerolzohour (member of the Iranian national Greco-Roman wrestling team), Samad Montazeri (national champion of weightlifting), and Navid Afkari (wrestling champion), along with the many other suppressed athletes and their families in Iran, we call on FIFA to strongly condemn the religious fascism ruling Iran for the killings and purges of athletes and to expel it from FIFA.
Moslem Eskandar Filabi, Chair of the Sports Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
Dr. Mohammad Qorbani, World Wrestling Champion in 1971, winner of 9 world wrestling medals
Asghar Adibi, a member of Iran’s national football team during the 1970 Asian Games in Bangkok
Bahram Mavadat, member of Iran’s national football team in the 1978 World Cup in Argentina
Hassan Naiebagha, member of Iran’s national football team in the 1978 World Cup in Argentina and the 1976 Olympics in Montreal
Abbas Novinrouzgar, a former member of Iran’s national football team
National Council of Resistance of Iran – Sports Committee
June 2, 2026
A related news: More than 20 international athletes condemn the wave of executions in Iran.