Sri Lanka, March 13 -- Iran's national football team has issued a defiant response to Donald Trump, declaring that no one has the authority to exclude them from this summer's World Cup.

The furious statement came after the US President warned the Iranian squad to stay away from the tournament for their own protection.

Tehran's footballers have instead argued that a host country unable to guarantee the safety of competing teams should forfeit its place.

The team's official statement stressed that the World Cup remains a historic global competition organised by Fifa rather than any individual nation.

The statement read: "The World Cup is a historic and international event, and its governing body is Fifa, not any individual country.

"Ir...