By Karrilynn Baloga
Many fans and viewers from around the world wear their team's colors, jerseys and wave their countries flag with pride. Whether it's a sea of Dutch fans at a watch party, or a group getting together at a cafe in France, the distinct look of the American red, white, and blue in the stands of a stadium or England’s game day chants, fans proclaim their loyalty and love for their teams publicly and proudly. Supporting your country is on full display at the famous World Cup. In the past few weeks, the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has been something almost everyone is watching. The tournament consists of 32 teams playing in categorized groups competing to make it to the final. Fans get to watch their favorite players and teams enjoy this awesome opportunity to play at the world level.
Although this hasn't been the case for the Iranian national men's team.
In their home country of Iran there has been a lack of freedoms, internet cutoffs, corruption in their economy, women's basic rights have been violated,. Although these issues are not entirely new, awareness of certain human rights violations has been heightened, prompted by the mysterious death of a 22 year old woman, Masha Amini, a young woman arrested by morality police on September 30th, 2022.
Allegedly Amini disobeyed Iran's strict law requiring all women to wear a hijab and/or a headscarf. According to Vivian Yee, a writer of the NY Times, “Morality police units arbitrarily enforce the rules, and their tactics range from verbal notices, to monetary fines, to violently dragging women into vans for detention.” After being arrested she was taken and forced to sit to be educated on the importance of the hijab. The police made sure that Amini knew the dress code and would not violate the law again. Many hours after she was dragged into the city center, “Masha Amini died of a heart attack” (Yee). Or so many thought. Amini’s brother, Kiarash Amini, heard screams as he was waiting for her outside that day. A witness leaving the center reported security forces had just killed a young woman. Kiarash knew this had to be his sister.
Is the refusal to wear a hijab a valid reason to kill an innocent woman?
Local Iranian news grabbed a hold of this information and made this devastating news public. Since then it has sparked a fire in the women and people of Iran.
According to BBC News, “videos have shown scores of Iranian women defiantly setting their headscarves on fire and cutting their hair in public to chants of "Woman, life, freedom" and "Death to the dictator" - a reference to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei”. These brutal protests often have broken out in arrests, fights and even live ammunition being fired at crowds. The majority of Iranian men and teenage boys are continuing to back these women's simple demands.
Not many people in Iran have the ability to be seen or heard at this time due to internet cut-offs, but the World Cup has become a place for them to begin showing their true feelings about the Iranian Government. Becky Sullivan, a writer for NPR News says, “Perhaps most prominently, at the team's opening game against England, all of Iran's players declined to sing the national anthem in what was widely seen as a show of solidarity with protesters.” Players believe that if they began rejecting their country’s patriotic actions at the games, they would bring support and awareness to the protest. This gesture of defiance has been seen at many games like the USA vs Iran match. According to Farnaz Fassihi, a writer for The NY Times, “When players representing Iran and the United States [took] the field at the World Cup in Qatar [...], millions of fans [dissected] every move — not just passes, fouls and headers, but also whether the Iranian players [would] sing the national anthem, celebrate any goals or speak about the protests shaking their country.”
These protests have even started to affect the way other countries' teams have acted during the tournament. For instance the U.S Soccer team began to show their support for the women fighting in Iran by posting a picture of the Iranian flag on social media, but with a deliberate omission. The U.S had taken the center emblem out leaving just the green, white and red stripes. This led to the Iranian Federation filing a complaint and having the post taken down. “U.S. Soccer added that it was a one-time display and future social media posts are expected to use Iran’s official flag”, the Associated Press reported. U.S. Soccer also said the posts with the altered flag would be taken down, and they were deleted Sunday morning. A Sunday post about Tuesday’s game featured Iran’s official flag,” said Peter Botte, of The NY Post. The U.S’s action could have resulted in a ban from the World cup for offending the dignity or integrity of Iran.
Although Iran is out of the World Cup, the fight for basic human rights still continues today. Women stand in protests revealing and cutting their hair to prove points. Chants of “Woman, Life, Freedom '' fills the air as many countries around the world acknowledge and support the women who fight to let freedom ring.
Works Cited
Botte, Peter. “US Soccer deletes posts after altering Iranian flag to show support for protestors.” New York Post, 27 November 2022, https://nypost.com/2022/11/27/world-cup-us-soccer-deletes-posts-after-altering-iranian-flag/. Accessed 14 December 2022.
Fassihi, Farnaz. “In Iran, Woman's Death After Arrest by the Morality Police Triggers Outrage.” The New York Times, 16 September 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/16/world/middleeast/iran-death-woman-protests.html. Accessed 14 December 2022.
“Iran: A really simple guide to the protests.” BBC, 26 October 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-63240911. Accessed 14 December 2022.
Sullivan, Becky, and Peter Kenyon. “The U.S.-Iran World Cup matchup puts a spotlight on Iran's protest movement.” NPR, 29 November 2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/11/29/1139548119/iran-protests-2022-world-cup. Accessed 14 December 2022.
“U.S. soccer coach apologizes for altered Iranian flag post.” Axios, 28 November 2022, https://www.axios.com/2022/11/28/us-coach-apology-iran-flag-post. Accessed 14 December 2022.
Yee, Vivian. “A U.S.-Iran Soccer Showdown Intensifies With Protests as a Backdrop.” The New York Times, 28 November 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/28/world/middleeast/iran-us-soccer-protests.html?searchResultPosition=9. Accessed 14 December 2022.
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