LOS ANGELES: The United States Soccer team has withdrawn from the Under-17 FIFA World Cup in Qatar on Wednesday (November 11) stating security concerns in the Middle East, just over a week before the tournament opens on November 19.
The players were informed by the US Soccer, the governing body for the sport in the country, little more than a week before the opening match. Though their official confirmation remains undisclosed.
The decision reported that the federation would not participate in the tournament due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East as the welfare of the players and staff would be prioritized.
This withdrawal lands amid a conflict that began in February with joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran, which retaliated by hitting Gulf countries allied with Washington, among other targets.
Diplomats have kept trying to calm the situation, but Washington and Israel have repeatedly threatened fresh bombardments of Iran, and efforts to ease the tensions have so far failed.
Due to the Sport events across the region has been disrupted. The tennis Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Finals which was scheduled to commence at Saudi Arabia, which neighbours Qatar, is being oraganised at Indian Wells in the United States.
While this season's Formula One's Jeddah Grand Prix was cancelled and the Bahrain round was called off and was later rescheduled in Malaysia.
According to the reports, several events in Saudi Arabia have also been cancelled or postponed in recent weeks after attacks on the Yemen by Houthis.
The US was one of 48 teams in the draw, grouped with Montenegro, Chile and Algeria.
The Under-17 World Cup became an annual event last year and Qatar is hosting it for five consecutive editions. When FIFA announced the host in 2024, it said staging several editions in one country would let it "make use of existing footballing infrastructure" while serving efficiency and sustainability goals.
Qatar also scheduled for the 2022 men's World Cup.
(With inputs from media reports)