Telegraph - Fifa is facing calls to throw Iran out of the World Cup weeks before their opening match against England after “kamikaze” drones made by the country were used in the latest wave of attacks by Russia against Ukraine.
Several people were killed, according to the Ukrainian government, during strikes that included the use of explosives-packed Shahed-136 drones which detonate upon impact with a target.
The attacks took place barely a month before England – the Government of which has been supplying arms to Ukraine to repel Vladimir Putin’s invasion of the country – take on Iran at the World Cup.
Chris Bryant MP, the chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Russia and former Foreign Office minister, told Telegraph Sport any nation founded to have “provided military support” for Putin’s invasion should be banished from world sport.
He added: “Sporting authorities around the world and in every sport should be looking very carefully at Iran’s direct engagement and support for Putin in his illegal invasion of Ukraine. Dictatorial regimes relish sporting success. We should deny them that opportunity.”
Fifa and Uefa threw Russia out of world football in the wake of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, including from March’s World Cup play-offs and the entire 2024 European Championship.
Belarus, whose government has been supporting the invasion, were also forced to play their home games behind closed doors in a neutral country until further notice.
Uefa last week refused to rule out taking further action against the latter nation after it deployed soldiers on the Belarus-Ukraine border.
Fifa has been approached for comment.
Iran already faces European Union sanctions over this week’s drone attacks if Tehran’s involvement is proven.
France and Germany, both parties to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, have made it clear they believe fresh sanctions are necessary given such transfers of weaponry violate a resolution by the UN Security Council.
Speaking ahead of an EU meeting in Luxembourg, Denmark’s foreign minister Jeppe Kofod said: “What we can see now: Iranian drones are used apparently to attack in the middle of Kyiv, this is an atrocity.”
Iran foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani denied his country had provided Russia with drones.
He said: “The published news about Iran providing Russia with drones has political ambitions and it’s circulated by western sources. We have not provided weaponry to any side of the countries at war.”
Iranian climber who competed without hijab goes missing
Meanwhile, a female Iranian athlete who flouted the Islamic Republic rules and competed in a climbing competition without wearing a hijab, has gone missing according to reports.
Rekabi is reportedly only the second female athlete to shun the country's strict hijab rules as protests continue to grip the country after the death of Mahsa Amini.
The footage shows Rekabi, from Tehran, competing without a headscarf and with her hair tied in a ponytail at the International Federation of Sport Climbing Asian Championships final in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, on Sunday October 16.