World Cup ‘too big’ to be postponed - Tournament CEO says it’s day-to-day as FIFA, int’l partners monitor global turmoil

DALLAS, Texas:

FIFA's World Cup chief operating officer says the tournament is "too big" to be postponed because of global turmoil caused by the United States (US) and Israeli war against Iran.

Speaking on Monday at the International Broadcast Center for the 48-nation tournament, which starts on June 11, Heimo Schirgi said FIFA continues to closely monitor the Iran war and its fallout.

"If I had a crystal ball I could tell you now what is going to happen, but obviously the situation is developing, Schirgi said. "It's changing day by day and we are monitoring closely.

"We're working together with all our federal partners and also our international partners in evaluating the situation, and we basically take it day by day and at some stage we will have a resolution. And the World Cup will go on obviously, right? The World Cup is too big and we hope that everyone can participate that has qualified."

The tournament, expanded from 32 nations to 48, is scheduled for 11 US venues plus three in Mexico and two in Canada.

While the Trump administration has imposed a travel ban on four of the nations that have qualified -- Iran, Ivory Coast, Haiti and Senegal -- it says it will make an exception for players, team officials and immediate relatives.

IRAN'S FEDERATION

Schirgi said FIFA is in constant contact with Iran's soccer federation for updates, but he wouldn't share any details about those conversations.

FIFA officials were in Dallas for the announcement of plans for the city's fan festival that will operate for 34 days during the World Cup and to view construction of the broadcast hub at the downtown convention centre -- about 20 miles (32 kilometres) from AT&T Stadium, the home of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys where nine matches will be played.

"Given the state of the world today, this will be a great opportunity to bring everyone together," Schirgi said. "For you who have not experienced the World Cup, the World Cup is very special because it's truly global and it brings everybody together. We witnessed that in Qatar, in Russia, everywhere. People were amazed how international this whole thing is."

- AP