Can Italy go to the World Cup if Iran is disqualified? FIFA president responds

In recent days news was released that shocked the entire soccer world and made soccer fans wonder: can Italy go to the World Cup if Iran is disqualified? The FIFA president forcefully responded to this.

More news about Qatar 2022:

Mexico National Team will have three more spots for Qatar 2022, will Marcelo Flores be included?

Italy's hopes had been rekindled after their national team was eliminated from World Cup play-off qualification by North Macedonia, whose one-goal defeat in the World Cup Qualifyers had dashed the Azzurri's hopes of going to the World Cup.  

However, in recent days, a piece of news has revived the hopes of the Italians and made their dream of reaching Qatar 2022. 

Can Italy go to the World Cup if Iran is disqualified?

The news in question was that due to a sanction that FIFA would apply to the Iranian national soccer team and its federation, it would allow the Italian national team to take its place at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar 2022. And everything seemed to indicate that yes, the Azzurri would go to the World Cup.

And the punishment to Iran is because the Iranians did not allow access to two thousand female fans to the Asian qualifying match against Lebanon, a situation that has led FIFA to launch an investigation. 

And as this was not the first time that something like this had happened, FIFA had already warned Iran that they had to allow women access to the stadiums, or else they would face a very strong sanction: they would be left out of international competitions.

For this reason, many international media and sports analysts had begun to speculate that the sanction would prevent Iran from attending Qatar 2022 so that the Italian national team could take its place in the World Cup.

However, we still need to know the resolution of the body on the investigation, which has caused such a stir for its seriousness that governor Mohsen Davari has already apologized for what happened and the president of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi has ordered to start an investigation to get to the bottom of what happened and thus avoid being expelled from the World Cup.

However, the question remains: can Italy take Iran's place in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar?

FIFA president Gianni Infantino answered if there is a possibility that Italy could take Iran's place

At a FIFA event, the press did not miss the opportunity to ask the Italian Gianni Infantino about this issue, the FIFA president replied: "Let's be serious, please", throwing down this possibility, much to his regret, as he expressed in his following statements. 

He said: "As an Italian, it's an incredible sadness. I feel like crying, and not only me but all soccer fans". 

The FIFA leader concluded his answer to this question by stating that in Italy they have to work on the academies, on the number of players coming out of the youth ranks, and going on to join the top teams, not only in Italy but in the rest of the world. 

With his answer, Infantino clarified this rumor and denied the possibility of Italy taking Iran's place in Qatar 2022.

More news about Qatar 2022:

Qatar 2022: When will the Mexican National Team play, against whom, and where?