The Canadian Football Federation on Thursday canceled the friendly match between its national team and Iran scheduled for June 5 in Vancouver, the holding of which had been criticized for several weeks by Canadian authorities.
“Canada Soccer has canceled the match against Iran which was scheduled for June 5 as part of the preparation for the 2022 World Cup,” the Canadian federation said in a brief statement, without giving further details.
This match between two teams qualified for the next World Cup, in Qatar, sparked a controversy in Canada, two years after an airliner carrying Canadian nationals in particular was shot down by Iranian anti-aircraft defense shortly after taking off from Tehran.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently declared that the match “was not a very good idea”.
On January 8, 2020, Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) flight PS752 Tehran-kyiv crashed, killing all 176 people on board, including 85 Canadian citizens or permanent residents.
The Iranian armed forces admitted three days later that they had shot down the aircraft “by mistake”.
The Association of Families of the Victims of Flight PS752 had asked Canada Soccer to cancel the match.
