Inter Milan’s Taremi To Miss Club World Cup Opener Amid Iran-Israel Airspace Closure (image-instagram/mehditaremiofficial9)
The Inter Milan forward Mehdi Taremi will be unable to join his teammates at the Club World Cup in the United States after being stranded in his home country due to Iran’s air closure, following the ongoing exchange of aerial fire with Israel.
According to the media reports from Italy and the US, Taremi was supposed to link up with his team in Los Angeles to be part of Inter Milan’s squad for the 32-team tournament. Unfortunately, with the recent development of events, the striker is likely to miss the first match on Tuesday and probably the entire competition.
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“The Iranian striker will not join the Nerazzurri, neither for the first match nor for the others,” Italian sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport reported on Saturday.
Flights from all Iranian airports have been grounded following an exchange of military strikes between Iran and Israel over the past two days.
“Inter have been in close contact with the Iranian authorities in Italy over the last 24 hours to comfort the player and try [to find] a solution that is currently impossible. The player is in Tehran in a safe place and sheltered from the bombings,” the report added.
The 32-year-old, captain of the Iran football team, was among one of the goal scorers as they beat North Korea in their AFC World Cup qualifying match at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran on June 10. And a day later, he had won the inaugural Iranian Toopa Award.
Meanwhile, Taremi shared the struggles of his previous season, revealing that he had to rely on painkillers to cope with injuries. Despite being unable to deliver his best performance, he remained hopeful of making a strong comeback this season. Unfortunately, fate seems to be not much in his favour this time.
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Taremi joined Inter Milan on a three-year contract in July 2024, he had scored three goals in 43 appearances for the Nerazzurri.
Inter Milan, who is placed in Group E for the Club World Cup, is alongside Argentinian club River Plate and Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds.
