In the US, the Iranian flag was published without Islamic symbols, thereby supporting the protestors and protesting the theocratic rule.
The United States Soccer Federation made corrections to the Iranian flag. This was done by US Soccer when publishing the World Cup group table on its website. It is true that later the said post was removed from the page and the flag was replaced with the original one, but it still became the subject of general discussion in the media.
“With this gesture, we wanted to express our solidarity to those who are fighting for the fundamental rights of women in Iran,” – the press secretary of the US Soccer Federation explained to the media. According to Neil Booth, this decision was discussed within the federation, although not everyone, including the president, was able to participate in this discussion.
Official Tehran protested the incident and noted that the fact violates FIFA regulations. Later, the head coach of the US national team commented on the incident. Gregg Berhalter apologized and noted that the team knew nothing about that:
“Sometimes things get out of control. We’re not focused on things like that off the field, so the only thing we can do is apologize on behalf of the team and staff, although we weren’t a part of it all.” – Gregg Berhalter, US national team head coach
In the final matches of Group B, USA and Iran will play against each other for the ticket to the playoff. In the previous round in Qatar, during the match between Iran and Wales, the security measures at the stadium were strengthened by the local law enforcement officers.
It is worth noting that in Qatar the support for the current events in Iran comes not only from the stands, but also directly from the field. In the first round, against England, the Iranians did not sing the national anthem and criticized the government’s actions in that way.
At the moment, protests continue throughout Iran. Unfortunately, more than 300 people lost their lives in the struggle against the theocratic regime across the country. In addition, the law enforcement officers arrested about 70 media representatives in Iran, which obviously complicates the coverage of current events in the country. It all started with the murder of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the moral police and then murdered with inhumane treatment.
Diplomatic relations between the US and Iran have ceased to exist since 1980 and all this, for these teams, wraps the decisive match of the group in an additional layer of intrigue.
