Iran national team shaken by wave of protests in the country

The wave of protests taking place in Iran could affect the country’s soccer team, which will compete in the World Cup in Qatar. There are rumors of splits in the cast, posts on social media that disappear and idols showing their support for the demonstrations.

The Iranian team is preparing for a battle in Group B of the World Cup, as competitive as it is politically tense, in which they will have to overcome the United States, England and Wales to advance for the first time to the round of 16 of the tournament.

But the protests that have shaken Iran since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after her arrest by the morals police have raised uncomfortable questions for the football team, which has enormous influence in a country passionate about the sport.

Striker Sardar Azmoun, the team’s star and Bayer Leverkusen player, is under enormous pressure. At first, he appeared to respect an order of silence imposed on the selection so that athletes would not speak about the brutal repression by the country’s authorities, but then he backed down and took a stand.

Meanwhile, one of the most important players in Iranian football history, the now retired Ali Karimi, has become a hero to many in the country by openly supporting the protests.

The echoes of the demonstrations reached last Tuesday at the friendly between Iran and Senegal, played in Austria, as part of the teams’ preparation for the World Cup. Protesters outside the stadium chanted slogans against the Tehran authorities and the names of Karimi and Azmoun.

“We are here to plead [à seleção]: please support us instead of being against us,” said Mehran Mostaed, one of the protest organizers.

Post deleted

Azmoun started the game on the bench, fueling rumors that he may have been isolated from the squad. However, he came on in the second half and scored a header, to the satisfaction of the team’s coach, the Portuguese Carlos Queiroz.

Iranian bloggers have in recent days released screenshots of an Instagram post by Azmoun saying that due to “restrictive rules… I couldn’t say anything”.

But the player added that he could not remain silent in the face of the repression against the protests that, according to activists, caused the death of 75 people.

“This will never be erased from their consciences! What a shame!” he wrote. The post was deleted and all of her Instagram content, followed by about five million people, disappeared for days.

But after the game against Senegal, Azmoun’s account reappeared and the player apologized for his previous post.

“I wasn’t under pressure to write or delete the Instagram story,” he said, adding that “there is no rift in the team.”

Idols support the protests

Retired player Ali Karimi has repeatedly posted on Instagram and Twitter his support for the protests, saying that not even holy water could “cleanse this disgrace”.

“As an ordinary person back home, I’m not looking for a job or a position,” he said. “I only seek the peace, comfort and well-being of the people.”

These publications led the Iranian news agency Fars to publish an article in which it called for the former player’s arrest, suggesting that his properties in Iran could be seized.

Other legends supported Karimi’s stance in Instagram posts.

Mehdi Mahdavikia, who played for four years in Germany, accused the authorities of “ignoring the people”, while Ali Daei, a legendary striker and star of the team at the 1998 World Cup, said the regime would have to “solve the problems of the Iranians”. instead of using repression, violence and prisons”.