Justin Meram, an American-Iraqi dual citizen, will miss two critical World Cup qualifiers for Iraq over travel concerns.
The Iraq FA released a statement, which was translated here by massivereport.com. Meram chose not to travel to Iran for a March 23 game against Australia in Tehran (hosting due to safety concerns) because of American policy regarding entry and exit between the United States and Muslim-majority countries including Iran.
Iraqi national team technical director Basil Gorgis has confirmed the absence of our national team player, Justin Meram from the upcoming matches against Australia and Saudi Arabia in the first and second rounds of the deciding world cup qualifications round.