Tucson prepares to welcome Iran football team

TEHRAN – In Tucson, the football officials are getting ready to welcome the Iranian football team as if nothing were amiss.

The city, an oasis of civilization in the Arizona desert, is set to be the base camp for “Team Melli” when the world’s biggest sporting spectacle opens in the U.S., Mexico and Canada next month.

“We’re just excited to host them here, and we’re going to give them a positive experience,” Sarah Hanna, director of the Kino Sports Complex, where the team will train, told AFP.

Grass is being watered and cut to FIFA-regulation height to ensure that players don’t get any surprises when they take to the field in Los Angeles and Seattle, the venues for their group-stage games.

Hotel rooms and meeting spaces are locked in, and security is tight.

“Right now, I’m probably averaging about 12 to 20 meetings regarding this training facility a week,” said Hanna.

“From our concessionaire for food and beverage… to lots of grounds meetings with FIFA coming out to check.”

The flurry of activity in Tucson comes against the backdrop of a war between the U.S. and Israel on one side and Iran on the other that is now in its 11th week.

Despite a shaky ceasefire in place for a month, hostilities are stubbornly unresolved, with Iran having virtually shut the Strait of Hormuz.

Organizers FIFA have insisted the team will take part in the tournament as planned, so Tucson has pressed ahead with its preparations.

“As far as we’re concerned, it’s 100 percent on, and it’s never been off,” said Hanna.

“Since they’ve been identified as the team, we’ve been moving forward as them as our team, until we hear something different from FIFA.”

Despite the official position, there’s plenty of uncertainty.

On Friday, Iran’s football federation president announced the team would participate, but laid down a list of requirements, including around the granting of visas and the treatment of staff.

In March, Trump cast doubt on their presence, saying that while the team was “welcome” to participate, it might not be a good idea.

“I really don’t believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety,” he wrote on social media.

Locals in Tucson dismiss the implied threat.

“Our president is known to be a bit bombastic in his use of social media,” said Jon Pearlman, president of FC Tucson.

“I don’t think President Trump or any part of our government will make it their business to make them feel unwelcome or unsafe. I think it will do the opposite.”

At the Kino Sports Complex, Iranian players will have access to the club’s weight training facilities, ice baths, and massage tables.

“We welcome them with open arms,” said Pearlman.

“We are part of the world soccer community. We are part of what FIFA is trying to do, and we believe the game is something that brings nations together, not drives them apart.”

It is a sentiment widely echoed throughout this multicultural city of 540,000, which leans Democratic.

“I hope that they still feel welcome here,” said Rob McLane, who plays indoor soccer.