Prime Minister Justin Trudeau believes a friendly soccer match between Canada and Iran scheduled for next month in Vancouver is misguided.
“It’s a Canada Soccer pick,” Trudeau said Tuesday in Saint John, Newfoundland and Labrador, when asked about the game. “I think it was not a very good idea to invite the Iranian soccer team here to Canada. But that’s something the organizers are going to have to explain. »
The merits of hosting Iran were raised by a reporter, citing families who had lost loved ones on Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, calling the game a “slap in the face”.
Flight 752 was shot down on January 8, 2020, minutes after taking off from Tehran, by an Iranian surface-to-air missile. The Canadian government says 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents were among the 176 people killed.
Canada Soccer did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the decision.
The federal government said Canada’s priority “is to seek answers and achieve justice by holding Iran accountable and seeking redress, while continuing to provide the families and loved ones of the victims with the support they need.” “.
Canada will host Iran on June 5 in Vancouver in a two-game series at BC Place Stadium. The Canadian men will play a CONCACAF Nations League A game there against Curaçao on June 9 and another against Honduras in San Pedro Sula on June 13.
Canada, ranked 38and in the world, and Iran, 21andare both preparing for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in November.
The Vancouver games will be Canada’s first at home since qualifying for the World Cup in a 4-0 win over Jamaica at BMO Field in Toronto on March 27. It will also be the Canadian men’s first visit to BC Place since March 2019, when they beat French Guiana 4-1 in the CONCACAF Nations League qualifier.
The Canadians dominated the final round of CONCACAF qualifying with an 8-2-4 record. Their last game was a 1-0 defeat at Panama on March 30.
Canada is 1-2-0 against Iran, having won the most recent meeting 1-0 in April 2001 in Cairo. Iran won 1-0 in 1997 and 1999 games in Toronto and Edmonton, respectively.
The game against Iran is one of the few World Cup warm-ups for John Herdman’s side ahead of Qatar. John Herdman said he would be looking to take the team to Europe in the fall to play several more games in preparation for Qatar.
Canada will open the World Cup on November 23 against Belgium (2and) before facing Croatia (16and) on November 27 and Morocco (24and) on December 1.