Iranian sports minister accuses UK of ‘sedition plot at World Cup’

Tehran parliament told plan was for national football team to defect on pitch in Qatar but plot was foiled

The UK was plotting for the Iranian national football team to defect on the pitch at the World Cup in Qatar, the minister of sport and youth has told the Iranian parliament, without providing any evidence.

The sports minister, Hamid Sajjadi, told MPs the country’s enemies had attempted “the height of sedition”. He said the “Old Fox”, by which he meant the UK, had planned for Iran’s players to walk off the pitch at specified moments and seek to defect.