U.S. Soccer withdraws from U-17 World Cup in Qatar over safety concerns amid Iran war, sources say
Soccer Federation will not send its under-17 boys' national team to Qatar for the FIFA U-17 World Cup because of safety concerns tied to the war with Iran, Yahoo Sports has learned.
Key points
- and Iran have been at war since February, and Qatar has been attacked by Iran several times since the conflict began early this year.
- government has a Level 3 travel advisory for Qatar, which sits across the Persian Gulf from Iran.
- As a precaution, the USSF had previously switched the team's pre-tournament camp from Qatar to the national training center near Atlanta.
In this case, it also used its experiences preparing for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to assess the situation there this fall.
With numerous national teams traveling around the world annually for games and tournaments, the USSF has a close working relationship with government agencies and embassies.
Additional details
- "The well-being of the players and staff is always going to be at the centerpiece of any decision." The USSF notified FIFA as well as its players and staff Wednesday.
- 23 intelligence report said, "Iran has substantially increased efforts to target U.S.
- The USSF came to its decision Wednesday morning, two sources said.
- "Sending 16- and 17-year-olds [to the tournament] given that situation was not tenable," a person close to the decision said Wednesday.
- The federation's decision came after consultation with its internal security team and the State Department, among others.
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →
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