Gianni Infantino has solved the Iran problem. They will not attend the Fifa congress in Canada this week. They will, however, definitely be at the 2026 World Cup. He has said so. Problem solved.

This is how international football governance works now. The Fifa president makes declarative statements about which nations will participate in tournaments while those nations are conspicuously absent from the room where decisions are made. It is not a bug. It is a feature.

The Iranian Football Federation did not send representatives to the congress in Ottawa. This is notable because, you know, Iran is supposed to be playing in the World Cup in less than two years. Most countries that plan to compete in a global tournament tend to send someone to sit in a chair and listen to Infantino talk about development initiatives and commercial partnerships. Iran sent no one. Yet here is Infantino, reassuring everyone that Iran will absolutely be there when the tournament kicks off in North America.

You have to admire the confidence. It is the confidence of a man who has learned that Fifa’s relationship with reality is more of a suggestion than a binding agreement. Iran could be under sanctions. Iran could be banned. Iran could decide football is no longer compatible with its geopolitical interests. None of this matters. Infantino has spoken. Iran will play.

The subtext, of course, is that Iran’s absence from the congress is itself the story. A nation does not simply skip the gathering of world football’s governing body without reason. There are political tensions. There are diplomatic complications. There are the small matters of international relations that make it inconvenient for Iranian officials to sit in a room with representatives from other nations while Infantino discusses expansion formats and media rights deals.

But Infantino is not interested in complications. He is interested in the narrative that works: Iran will play because Iran must play. The 2026 World Cup needs Iran. The format needs Iran. The tournament’s geographic reach needs Iran. And so Iran will play, whether Iranian officials show up to vote on it or not.

This is the modern Fifa way. Make the announcement. Secure the outcome. Deal with the details later, if at all. It worked with Saudi Arabia. It worked with Qatar. It will work with Iran. The congress can proceed without Iran’s input. The tournament will proceed without Iran’s cooperation being formally confirmed. And if something goes wrong—if sanctions tighten, if diplomatic relations fracture, if Iran decides not to send a team—well, Infantino has already said they will be there. The problem has been solved. The announcement has been made.

The Iranian Football Federation’s silence is deafening. They did not attend. They did not vote. They did not participate in the governance structure that is supposed to represent them. And yet they have been assured, by the most powerful person in world football, that they will participate in the sport’s biggest tournament. It is a strange form of representation: being decided for, rather than with.

One might ask why Iran would skip the congress if they plan to play in the World Cup. One might wonder if there are complications worth discussing, problems worth solving, tensions worth addressing in person. One might suggest that a nation’s football federation should probably have a seat at the table when decisions are made about their participation in a global tournament.

But that would be to misunderstand how this works. Fifa does not need Iran to confirm attendance. Fifa needs Iran to confirm attendance. And Infantino has already done that, standing in Canada, speaking into microphones, making it official: Iran will play. The congress can move on to other business. The tournament can proceed with confidence. The problem has been solved by declaration.

It is absurd. It is also exactly how international football works in 2024. Decisions are made by the people in the room. Announcements are made for the people not in the room. And everyone pretends this is normal governance.

Iran will play at the 2026 World Cup. Gianni Infantino has said so. That is apparently all that matters.