December 12, 2014
Ali Kafashian, the head of the Iranian Football Federation, says FIFA, the governing body of international soccer, has never paid Iran the more than $7 million it was to be paid, along with every other finalist, for winning a slot in the 2014 World Cup Finals. He said the payment had been blocked by sanctions. Kafashian said the federation needs the money to maintain its national team. He said Sepp Blatter, who heads FIFA, had promised to release some of the funds. Kafashian didn’t say how Blatter could have the authority to do that.