Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter has said Iran should be barred from participating in the 2022 World Cup.
Blatter revealed that Iran should be barred amid widespread protests in the Islamic Republic sparked by the death of a woman in the custody of morality police.
“Iran should be excluded from the World Cup,” says Blatter as he demanded harsh consequences, saying he would have removed Iran from competition had he still been in charge.
The protests in Iran pose one of the boldest challenges to Iran’s clerical rulers since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iran has accused foreign enemies of fomenting unrest raging since the death of Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in September after her arrest for allegedly flouting Iran’s strict dress code imposed on women.
Blatter stressed that it was incomprehensible that FIFA head Gianni Infantino had not taken a clear position on Iran.
Blatter, 86, had made waves this week by saying it had been a mistake to award Qatar the hosting rights to the World Cup, which begins on Nov. 20.
