SEATTLE — With 100 days until the start of the FIFA Men’s World Cup, the biggest remaining question about the matches to be played in Seattle is whether all the teams scheduled to take to the pitch at Lumen Field will be able to participate.

No one seems to know at this point whether Iran will take part in the tournament. And that includes the CEO of Seattle’s local organizing committee for the event.

“Obviously, the world events are what they are. And certainly, we’ve been in constant communication with all of our partners, both at the federal level and state, local, FIFA level. And it’s really too soon” to say, Peter Tomozawa, CEO of the Seattle’s organizing committee said Tuesday. “… It’s very dynamic situation. We’re obviously thinking about and just hoping that more lives are not lost.

“And so I would just say that we’ve been thinking about it a lot, but there’s nothing really to announce, because we don’t really know what’s happening.”

Tuesday marked 100 days until the World Cup kicks off on June 11 in Mexico City and the host cities across Mexico, Canada and the United States found time to recognize and celebrate the moment.

In Seattle, local leaders and executives from the local organizing committee gathered at Westlake Center to commemorate hitting the benchmark in the countdown toward the tournament. The rumble of the monorail cars running on the tracks above and the occasional horn being pressed provided the soundtrack to a day that was supposed to be a celebration.

But the 100-day mark came against the backdrop of troubling global circumstances that have encircled the tournament. The attacks last weekend by the United States and Israel on Iran have created uncertainty whether Iran will be participating in the tournament and playing its scheduled June 26 match against Egypt at Lumen Field.

“I also want to acknowledge that we are living through a time right now of heightened international tensions and that’s part of why it is so beautiful that here in Seattle we’re going to get to show how soccer connects people across the world, across borders, across cultures and across history,” Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson said. “I’m so glad that Seattle is going to be a host city this spring and summer and I can’t wait until June.”

The head of Iran’s soccer federation said over the weekend that the country’s participation was in doubt following the attacks. President Donald Trump said Tuesday in an interview with Politico that, “I really don’t care,” if Iran can take part.

Front Office Sports reported Tuesday that the Iranian delegation was not in attendance for team workshops run by FIFA taking place this week in Atlanta. Tomozawa said the Iranian and Qatari delegations were supposed to visit Seattle later this week in preparation for their matches in June, but neither group was able to get out of their countries after the attacks over the weekend.

Qatar is scheduled to play against a European team on June 24. Qatar’s opponent will be determined during a playoff later this month involving Italy, Wales, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Northern Ireland.

“There was some speculation, because this week we were supposed to get a visit from the Iranian delegation as well as the Qatari delegation, and they had to postpone, but it’s simply because they couldn’t get out of their countries. Airspace is shut down. So it was more of a travel situation, as opposed to anything else,” Tomozawa said.

FIFA has been mostly quiet on the subject and generally tries to stay away from making political statements. The first comments from FIFA President Gianni Infantino came Tuesday when he told U.K.-based Sky News: “I hope so much it will be a moment of peace. I hope we can contribute to unite a little bit the world. I think the world really, really needs it.”

Iran’s participation in Seattle had already drawn attention because its match with Egypt falls at the start of Pride weekend, which both countries objected to following the draw in December. The local organizing committee has planned Pride celebrations in conjunction with the match, but those will take place outside the stadium.

The events in the Middle East have brought security back to the forefront of an event that Jorge Gotuzzo from Visit Seattle said is expected to bring 750,000 people — visitors and locals — downtown during the tournament.

“I often like to say security is our number one priority. It’s actually my least concern, in the sense that we have so well prepared and planned,” Tomozawa said.

Security funding is still waiting to be distributed by the federal government via grants as it’s currently frozen as part of the partial government shutdown. The 11 host cities in the U.S. are supposed to split $625 million in funding for security.

“Everything is secure. We’re on the phone every week to the White House. I’m part of the White House Task Force and we get a briefing every week on the update of where we’re at,” Tomozawa said. “The funding that you referenced is all there. It’s mostly it’s just a matter of an administrative signature or two to get through.”

Holding the 100-day event in the shadow of the Seattle monorail was purposeful, as the local organizing committee unveiled the first phase of an art installation that will see 53 of the monorail’s columns painted with designs representing the tournament.

Of the 53 columns, 48 will feature the flags of the participating countries and are expected to be completed in early April after the tournament field is finalized.

Other columns will feature winning designs from a community contest for the Juneteenth and Pride matches, a collaboration with the Seattle Children’s Hospital therapeutic art program and a design from the Puyallup Tribe.

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