Iran’s World Cup football players have been granted visas to enter the United States, according to a White House official, just 10 days before their first match in Los Angeles amid a conflict between ⁠the two countries.

Iran’s ambassador to Mexico, Abolfazl Pasandideh, said late on Thursday the squad had still not received their US visas, but these were granted overnight, the White House official said.

US Ambassador to Turkiye Tom Barrack confirmed the visas in a message on X on Friday. “Proud of our outstanding team at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara for their work processing visas for Iran’s national football team on their road to the @FIFAWorldCup in the United States,” he said, commenting on a news report that Iran’s World Cup players have been granted the visas to enter the United States.

The US had not yet issued visas to some members of the Iran team’s technical and administrative staff, the semi-official Fars news agency ‌reported on Friday.

Iran’s federation has not yet made a statement on the news.

“Visas for some members of the national team’s technical and executive staff have not yet been issued, and the US embassy has so far refused to issue them,” Fars said, without citing a source.

The US-Israel war on Iran has turned the World Cup – the biggest global sporting event – into a geopolitical contest, with both sides appearing to use the tournament for political posturing.

It is the first World Cup, since its inception in 1930, in which a host nation is set to receive a country it is at war with.

Tehran negotiated a last-minute move of the team’s base from Arizona ⁠to Tijuana in Mexico due to the visa issues and a growing feeling in Iran ⁠that the squad’s presence in the United States should be kept to a minimum.

They are scheduled to land in Tijuana early on Sunday.

Iran are due to play their first Group G match on June 15 against New Zealand in Los Angeles, where they will also face Belgium before taking on ⁠Egypt in Seattle.

The US has never formally said it does not want the Iranian team to stay on its territory, Ambassador Pasandideh said.

However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers on ⁠Tuesday that the US would not allow Iran to include in its World Cup ⁠delegation individuals linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a powerful branch of the Iranian armed forces.

Mehdi Taj, president of Iran’s football federation, was denied entry for the tournament draw in Washington in December. He is a former commander in the Revolutionary Guards.

Iran’s desire to compete in the World Cup underscored its efforts ‌to reach a resolution in the war with Washington, Pasandideh said.

“Iran’s participation in the World Cup – even on the soil of what is seen as its enemy – shows that Iran seeks peace,” Pasandideh said, speaking through a Spanish interpreter at the ‌Iranian ‌embassy in Mexico City.

Progress in peace talks between Iran and the US has been slow, with both sides seemingly inching towards an interim agreement even as they continue to carry out military strikes

[Aljazeera]

Sri Lanka’s rising tennis stars continued their impressive run at the ITF Junior J30 Circuit Week 2 tournament being played at the SSC courts, with Dinara de Silva and Yuhansa Peiris advancing to the girls’ semi-finals, while Aahil Kaleel secured a place in the boys’ last four.

‎Top local contender Dinara de Silva produced another commanding performance in the girls’ quarter-finals, defeating India’s Sarthra Entoori in straight sets 6-1, 6-4. Dinara controlled the match from the outset and maintained her composure to complete a convincing victory and book her place in the semi-finals.

‎Joining her in the girls’ semi-finals is Yuhansa Peiris, who battled through a thrilling three-set encounter against India’s Deepthi Wenkataram. After narrowly losing the opening set in a tie-break 6-7, Yuhansa bounced back strongly to claim the second set 6-1 before prevailing 10-8 in the decisive match tie-break.

‎In the boys’ competition, Sri Lanka’s Aahil Kaleel also showcased his fighting qualities to reach the semi-finals. Aahil overcame India’s Chukka Lakshyawardae in a hard-fought quarter-final clash. After taking the first set 7-5, he dropped the second set 4-6 before holding his nerve in the match tie-break to seal a 10-8 victory.

‎With three Sri Lankan players progressing to the semi-final stage, the host nation will be strongly represented as the tournament enters its decisive phase at the SSC courts. Dinara, Yuhansa and Aahil will now look to continue their impressive form and challenge for honours in the prestigious ITF Junior J30 event.

Sri Lanka’s history-making javelin star Rumesh Tharanga compared his remarkable victory at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Rome to the celebrations of a Sri Lankan festival after producing the performance of his life on Thursday.

‎The 23-year-old national record holder stunned a world-class field at the prestigious Golden Gala Pietro Mennea meeting by unleashing a massive throw of 92.62 metres, setting a new meeting record and registering the world-leading mark for the season.

‎Reflecting on his achievement, Tharanga said the feeling of victory was unforgettable.

‎”Winning today felt like a Sri Lankan festival,” World Athletics quoted the Sri Lankan athlete as saying after his sensational triumph.

‎Tharanga, who had arrived in Rome after competing in Rabat, revealed that his primary goal had been to improve his national record, a target he exceeded in spectacular fashion.

‎”I tried my best today to set a national record and I managed to improve it by three metres,” said Tharanga. “Even though I had only two valid attempts today, I am very stable mentally. It was very hot in Rabat, but the weather in Rome was good and felt like ideal conditions in which to throw far.”

‎The Sri Lankan opened the competition with a solid 84.49m effort, a distance that eventually proved sufficient to secure victory. However, he elevated the contest to another level in the second round when he launched the javelin to an astounding 92.62m.

‎The throw eclipsed the long-standing meeting record of 90.34m set by Norwegian Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen two decades ago. More significantly, it propelled Tharanga to eighth place on the world all-time list and established him as the second-best Asian javelin thrower in history.

‎His mark was also the longest throw recorded anywhere in the world since the men’s javelin final at the 2024 Olympic Games, underlining the magnitude of his achievement.

‎Tharanga comfortably defeated an elite field that included two-time world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada, who finished second with 83.91m, while American world bronze medallist Curtis Thompson took third place with 83.89m.

‎The victory further cemented Tharanga’s status as one of the brightest stars in world athletics and marked another historic milestone for Sri Lankan sport. His record-breaking effort in Rome has not only rewritten national athletics history but has also placed Sri Lanka firmly among the world’s elite nations in the men’s javelin throw. ‎