Mo Salah and Egypt teammates denied entry to US city for World Cup game as statement released
Mohamed Salah and his Egypt teammates were denied entry into Seattle, it has been revealed.
Egypt were flying high on Sunday (21 June) as they picked up their first ever World Cup victory as they bested New Zealand 3-1 in the Canadian city of Vancouver.
The Pharos were planning to return to the USA and fly into Seattle, where their final Group G match against Iran is set to take place on 27 June, but their plans to cut down travel time to prepare for the match hit a stumbling block.
Instead, Egypt's request to fly directly to Seattle was denied by local security officials and instead they were forced to return to their training base in Spokane, Washington, 279 miles away.
Egypt statement on being denied entry to Seattle
“The security authorities refused the team’s request to stay in the city of Seattle as planned after the New Zealand match in the World Cup, and therefore the team’s delegation will return to the city of Spokane," Egypt manager Hossam Hassan said in a statement released by the Egypt FA.
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“The team had wanted to travel directly to Seattle to spare the players travel fatigue due to the numerous journeys in preparation for the Iran match on June 26, but following the security decision, the Egypt national team delegation will return to Spokane.”
FIFA told LADbible: "Team Base Camps remain in place until the day before the Round of 32 match for all teams, while venue hopping starts right after for the remaining of the knock out phase.
"Although FIFA tried to accommodate the teams' request, the local security authorities were unable to deploy the necessary resources in time for the last-minute demand, as other events and activities were already planned to take place in the city on the same dates.
"It is also important to note that the Team Base Camp is located in Spokane, a 45-minute flight from Seattle."
Mohamed Salah scored a lovely goal to put Egypt in front after New Zealand had taken the lead, with the former Liverpool star seen dancing in the streets of Vancouver in celebration after the match that put his team top of Group G.
Their next opponents are Iran, who have had to deal with their own extensive travel issues during the tournament amid the US's war with the country in 2026.
Though all three of their group games are taking place in the States, Iran's squad and staff have not been allowed to stay in the country.
They are instead based in Tijuana, Mexico, and must fly into the US for games before departing again without any time to rest and recover following matches.
Iran manager Amir Ghalenoei said Iran are 'the most oppressed' team at the World Cup.
"You have to leave immediately.’ Whereas it’s very important for us to have recovery.
“We’ve been asked to get on a plane and return to our camp in Tijuana and we are really troubled by that. They are forcing us to go back early. They are making the situation more and more difficult, more hurdles, but we’re not going to let that stop us from doing our best.
“We don’t know why they’re returning us. It’s very strange. It seems like others are doing the planning for us … We were supposed to arrive two nights before the game but they didn’t permit [it]. We were supposed to stay here tonight to recover and return tomorrow lunchtime.
“Our team is the most oppressed one in the whole World Cup. Our federation isn’t here, our media isn’t here, our management isn’t here.”
Despite the upheaval, Iran have drawn their two games so far against New Zealand and Belgium and have a strong chance of qualifying for the knock-out stages if they can get a result against Egypt.
Daniel Murphy