Reason Iran footballers were wearing #168 badges as they landed for the FIFA World Cup

Iran is competing in the FIFA World Cup, a contest already surrounded by controversy. Now, the Iranian team is making headlines for what happened off the pitch: all the players wore a label badge on their jackets, each carrying a deeper, emotional meaning.

Iran’s participation in the World Cup, hosted partly in the U.S., has stirred strong emotions given the ongoing conflict between the countries. For a long time, it was unclear whether the Iranian players would receive their U.S. visas. The team is scheduled to face New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles and Egypt in Seattle.

However, after weeks of uncertainty about the situation, the U.S. finally granted the players visas on Friday, only 10 days before their first match.

However, according to Reuters, several members of the Iranian squad were not granted visas. That included “key managerial and administrative members,” the Iranian football federation said. The team manager, two team analysts, the media director, and ​a representative of the ​Foreign Ministry are not allowed into the country.

Iran will have their team based in Tijuana, Mexico, for the tournament. And as they touched down in Mexico, one detail stood out and is now making headlines.