Iranian Football Federation President Mehdi Taj announced that the national team is continuing preparations for the World Cup as normal.
"We are preparing for the World Cup and making all the necessary arrangements. For now, the decision is for the team to be fully prepared for the tournament," Taj said, stressing that he would respect any decisions made by the authorities.
Recall that the idea of including Italy was revived by Paolo Zampoli, a close advisor to Donald Trump who had previously advocated excluding Iran and giving Italy a place. Such a request was ignored four years ago, when Iran duly participated in the World Cup.
Reactions from Italy remain largely negative. Sports Minister Andrea Abodi said that "the only way to get to the World Cup is through qualifying," while Economy Minister Giancarlo Giordetti called the whole idea "shameful." Coach Gianni De Biasi expressed a similar view, saying that Italy "does not need political help to qualify."
FIFA had previously made it clear that Iran should play, with President Gianni Infantino's stance that "sport must be above politics."
There is currently no indication that Iran could be eliminated from the tournament. On the contrary, the national team has already qualified for its fourth consecutive appearance and is planning to open the championship against New Zealand in Los Angeles.
In the extremely unlikely scenario that Iran does not perform, the final decision on substitution would be made by FIFA.
According to the rules, it is possible to invite any national team, but it would be expected that the Asian Football Confederation would insist that the place remain within Asia, with the United Arab Emirates national team mentioned as a logical candidate.
For now, however, everything remains at the level of political ideas with no real chance of influencing the composition of the World Cup participants.
