Iran Delegates Miss Vancouver AFC Congress Over Visa Issues — Fifa Congress
Iran’s delegates did not take part in the fifa congress run-up in Vancouver on Tuesday, after visa formalities kept them out of the Asian Football Confederation Congress at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Two chairs set aside for Iranian representatives stayed empty as 46 of the 47 AFC members gathered in person.
Windsor John Opens Roll Call
Windsor John told the room that the Football Federation of Islamic Republic of Iran was unable to attend the 36th AFC Congress 2026 due to visa formalities issues. The AFC secretary general delivered that note as part of the roll call at Tuesday’s meeting, where some participants also joined via Zoom.
Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa said some federations were “not able to join us today due to the conflict affecting their regions,” a nod to the wider strain on attendance that sat behind the empty seats. The congress came two days before Thursday’s FIFA Congress at the same venue, and FIFA had been expecting all 211 member associations to be represented there.
Palestinian Visa Problems In Vancouver
Iran was not the only delegation dealing with border paperwork. Susan Shalabi said the Palestinian Football Association was one of 10-12 federations that had problems with their visas, and Jibril Rajoub did not receive a visa in time for Tuesday’s AFC meeting.
Shalabi said Rajoub was expected to arrive Tuesday night in time for Thursday’s FIFA Congress. She also described how the Palestinian delegation pushed hard to get its paperwork through, saying, “after a lot of contacting on the political level, on the social level, on the media level … the government changed their minds, and we were able to get that visa.”
Canada’s Visa Rules
Canada’s Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship department said visa applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis by trained officers. It also said it “cannot comment on individual cases due to privacy laws.”
The department added that “the (Canadian) government has been clear and consistent: IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) officials are inadmissible to Canada and have no place in our country.”
That leaves the Vancouver meetings with a clear split between the political and administrative sides of the issue. The AFC Congress moved ahead with 46 of 47 members in the room, but Iran’s absence, along with the visa problems around Palestine’s delegation, showed how much the week’s soccer business was already being shaped before Thursday’s FIFA Congress even began.
