Fifa holds World Cup crisis talks over US strikes on Iran

Trump announced on Saturday morning that the US has started “major combat operations” in Iran, and accused the regime of waging an “unending campaign of bloodshed and mass murder targeting the United States”.

The Fifa secretary general Mattias Grafstrom, speaking at the International FA Board (Ifab) meeting in Wales, said: “We had a meeting today and it is premature to comment in detail, but we will monitor developments around all issues around the world.

“We had the finals draw in Washington in which all teams participated, and our focus is on a safe World Cup with all the teams participating. We will continue to communicate as we always do with three [host] governments as we always do in any case. Everybody will be safe.”

• Why has the US attacked Iran?

Iran are due to play New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles on June 16 and June 21 respectively, and Egypt in Seattle on June 27.

The England Lions cricket match against Pakistan A that had been due to be played in Abu Dhabi on Sunday was cancelled on Saturday afternoon following retaliatory Iranian missile attacks in the United Arab Emirates.

The Lions are a team of emerging England talents being groomed for roles in senior England teams in the future. The 17-man squad on this tour is being coached by Andrew Flintoff, with assistance from Ben Stokes, the England Test captain. Sunday’s game was due to have been the second in a five-match ODI series. The squad are safely in their hotel and government advice is that they should stay put for the moment.

Airspace over the region is currently closed so evacuating the team is not an option at the moment but it is thought the ECB will seek to bring them home as soon as possible. The ECB says it is monitoring the situation closely and in contact with security and government officials regarding the safety of their players.

Thirty of England’s female cricketers were due to fly to the region later this week for a training camp but that tour is now on hold. The ECB is likely to look for an alternative place to hold the training camp.

Qatar, football’s World Cup hosts four years ago, has been hit by retaliatory strikes by Iran, which led to beIN Sport cancelling Richard Keys and Andy Gray’s usual Premier League show from Doha.

Keys posted on X saying: “Thank you for all the messages. It was a bit lively earlier. I don’t have space to express my feelings about that idiot Trump. No show today. You’ll be in the capable hands of our colleagues in London. Thoughts and prayers for everyone in our region. Ramadan Kareem.”

Preparations for the opening grand prix of the Formula 1 season in Melbourne have been disrupted with hundreds of personnel having their flights cancelled owing to the airspace in the Middle East being closed.

The race is still due to go ahead, however, with staff finding alternative routes avoiding the usually popular stopovers in Doha, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) said it is working on alternative travel plans for players and officials returning from the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.

The world No11 tennis player Daniil Medvedev was stuck in Dubai on Saturday after winning the ATP tournament there, and said he did not know if he would be able to take his place at this week’s event in Indian Wells. The Californian tournament is considered one of the biggest outside the four grand slams, but the closure of air space may prevent him travelling there.

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