“I don’t care if I’m sacked. Shame on you for killing people so easily. Viva Iranian women.”
These words appeared in a later-deleted Instagram post by Sardar Azmoun, one of Iran’s most famous footballers. With 41 goals in 65 international appearances, the Islamic nation’s World Cup hopes will depend heavily on the Bayer Leverkusen forward.
Yet there was great pressure on national team manager Carlos Queiroz not to select Azmoun for the World Cup, especially from the Iranian government. There are even calls for Iran to be removed from the tournament altogether. They now face England in the Group B opener on the afternoon of Monday 21 November.
Azmoun is aware that he is risking his chance to represent his country by publicly supporting protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. Amini died in hospital with visible signs of having been beaten after she was arrested and detained by Iranian “morality police” for reportedly wearing a loose hijab that revealed her hair. The Iranian government claims she died from a heart attack.
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Protests have now been active in as many as 80 cities throughout Iran in the two months since Amini’s death. According to Oslo-based organisation Iran Human Rights, at least 326 people have been killed in the protests, with reports of 40 people being shot dead by security services in Zahedan on one day.
There are widespread concerns within the Iranian government about potential protests by Iranian players on the global stage. There was even speculation the government would withdraw the team, or send a squad of politically pliable youngsters. But Iran are going to Qatar and Azmoun has been selected in the 26-man squad.
The Iranian beach football team, which won the Intercontinental Cup on Sunday 6 November, did not sing the national anthem before the final and the winning goalscorer imitated cutting his hair, in solidarity with the protesters.
Iran’s football federation said the players would be “dealt with according to the regulations. As per the regulations of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Olympic Code of Ethics and the rules of Fifa, political behaviour must be avoided in sports fields.”
Iranian journalists have had their World Cup accreditation denied by the Qatari interior ministry ahead of the tournament. Iran want to limit coverage of the tournament within the country, in an attempt to limit any local reporting of potential protests by players in Qatar.
Reflecting on the possibility of losing his place in the national team, Azmoun said: “[It] is a small price to pay for even a single lock of hair from an Iranian woman.”
Once dubbed the “Iranian Messi”, Azmoun is one of many Iranian current and former footballers to express their support for the protests.
Former Bayern Munich midfielder Ali Karimi, considered one of the greatest Asian players of all time, was charged in absentia by the Iranian government in October for his support of the protests to his 14.1million Instagram followers.
Ali Daei, another Iranian great and former Bayern Munich forward, has reportedly had his passport seized by Iranian authorities ahead of the World Cup after returning home from Istanbul recently.
On Instagram, Daei wrote: “My homeland Iran means: my family, my father and mother, my daughters and fellow countrymen are my brothers and sisters.
“Instead of repression, violence and arresting the Iranian people, solve their problems.”
Daei and Karimi, as well as Iran’s most-capped player Javad Nekounam, have all rejected invitations from Fifa to attend the upcoming World Cup. Daei said: “I want to be with my compatriots and express sympathy with all those who have lost loved ones. Hoping for brighter days for Iran.”
Multiple other Iranian footballers and journalists have been arrested for their role in the protests. Sports photographer Yalda Moayeri, a member of the Iranian Press Photographers Association, was arrested and detained in Qarchak prison. Qarchak is known for its inhumane conditions, with no proper sewer system within the prison.
Former Iranian international Hossein Mahini, who plays for Tehran-based Saipa FC, was also arrested in October as a result of social media posts he made supporting the protests.
Other players including former Brighton and now Feyernoord winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Hull City forward Allahyar Sayyadmanesh have spoken out publicly. After a 1-1 draw with Senegal in Vienna during September’s international break, Jahanbakhsh told Iranian state television: “I hope from now on during home matches, our dear women can also spectate, so we can make them happy as well.”
But these statements make them a target for Iranian censorship, which Daei and Karimi have already experienced. Both Sayyadmanesh and Jahanbakhsh are based overseas but there are concerns for their family members in Iran if they continue to support the protests.
In the wake of their Iranian Super Cup win, Esteghlal players refused to cheer and the captain, Hossein Hosseini, who has been selected in the Iranian World Cup squad, dedicated the trophy to Iranian women.
Queiroz, once assistant manager of Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson, said on Tuesday: “Everybody has the right to express themselves. You guys are used to kneeling in the games and some people agree, some people don’t agree with that, and in Iran it’s exactly the same.
“It is out of the question to think that the Iran national team is suffering any sort of issues like that. The players only have one thing in mind, which is to fight for that dream to be in the second round.”
Football and sport in general have been heavily regulated and controlled in Iran since Ayatollah Khomeini’s rise to power as a result of the Iranian Revolution.
Women have been banned from attending football stadiums in Iran since 1981, with occasional access to the 78,000-seater Azadi Stadium in Tehran the only exception. The excuse given by the Iranian government is that stadiums are not considered safe for women.
Amini’s death has been reminiscent of the death of Sahar Khodayari. The 29-year-old was arrested in March 2019 after attempting to watch Esteghlal at the Azadi Stadium. In order to access a game at which female fans were not allowed, she used YouTube make-up tutorials to try and pass as a man. She was unsuccessful. Khodayari was detained and held for a week in Qarchak prison.
Although there is no formal law banning women from Iran’s football stadiums, she was charged with failing to respect Islamic hijab regulations, as was Amini three years later. As she left the court, Khodayari set herself on fire. She died a week later. She became known as “the blue girl”, in reference to Esteghlal’s club colours. Rage at Khodayari’s death was stark and powerful in Iran and across the world, but gradually it subsided and the issue was ignored once again.
Football has a history of acting as a foundation for protest across the Middle East. James Montague, author of When Friday Comes: Football Revolution in the Middle East and the Road to Qatar, told i: “When Hosni Mubarak is toppled in Egypt in 2011, who fought for that revolution? It was tens of thousands of football ultras, they were the battering ram of that revolution.
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Many hope that the same can be done in Iran, although there is the feeling that footballers are not doing enough. If you scroll through the comments on social media posts by top players, the overwhelming sentiment is highly critical.
“Iran’s players are in a tricky position,” Montague said. “The regime punishes dissent, even when it’s out of the country. If they can’t get you, they will go after your family. National team players have an elevated position so when the protest broke out it was expected they would support them.
“But, actually, the protesters viewed many of the players negatively for low-key or obtuse support. Go on Instagram and you will see, far from being hailed as heroes, they are being criticised for not doing enough. Everyone is scared of reprisals.”
Open Stadiums is a movement of Iranian women seeking to allow women free access to Iran’s stadiums. There was praise across Western media when Iranian players appeared to cover their badges before a friendly against Senegal, but Open Stadiums tells i: “I don’t know how people assume they did this to support people. It was always like this. Nothing special happened.”
The players also received heavy criticism for meeting Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi before they left for Doha.
Open Stadiums recently published an open letter to Fifa president Gianni Infantino: “Iranian women remain locked out of our ‘Beautiful Game’ and we are systematically repressed when we try to enter stadiums in Iran.
“In March 2022, women who were told they could watch a Fifa World Cup 2022 qualifying match between Iran and Lebanon in Mashdad were tear-gassed and pepper-sprayed by police. When the Islamic Republic pretended to open league matches for women, it was far from the equality Fifa’s own statutes require.
“To begin with, very few women could buy tickets, then in a humiliating way got physically harassed by Iran’s morality police before they could even enter Azadi stadium, which to this day is the only stadium in the country where women have been allowed to watch men’s matches at all.”
Open Stadiums expressed concerns that Iranian agents will travel to Qatar to monitor and control Iranian fans, particularly women, with potential consequences upon their return.
Open Stadiums has also called for Iran to be banned from the tournament, claiming that the nation’s “gender apartheid” is in convention of Fifa’s statutes.
Open Stadiums is not alone in these demands. The Ukrainian federation urged Fifa to remove Iran from the World Cup, citing human rights violations and supplying the Russian military with weapons.
The Ukrainian FA has not asked for Iran to be replaced by Ukraine, although this was mentioned in an appeal by Shakhtar Donetsk.
“Ukraine has a good case,” Montague said. “Russia was essentially suspended from football because it invaded Ukraine and Iran is supplying loitering munitions and drones targeting civilian infrastructure. This is a war crime, but it is very late in the day.”
Ashok Swain, Unesco chair of Uppsala University in Sweden and professor within its Department of Peace and Conflict Research, was sceptical of calls to ban Iran. “Banning sports does not help the cause. It has not in the past, and it will not do now,” Swain said.
He also raised questions about foreign involvement, saying: “International support for a protest in a closed country like Iran is a double-edged sword.
“The support from fans across the world will be a morale booster for the protesting masses in Iran, and at the same it will also help the regime to carry its propaganda that the protest is a foreign conspiracy.”
The support of figures like Azmoun is highly significant within Iran, although multiple international stars, including the Chelsea and England defender Reece James, have publicly declared their support for protests.
“The support of the Iranian team is more powerful than other footballers doing it,” Swain adds.
It is highly unlikely that Fifa will take any action against the Iranian team ahead of the finals. Its regulations are deliberately vague, stating that Fifa “remains neutral in matters of politics and religion” and that “exceptions may be made with regard to matters affected by Fifa’s statutory objectives”.
Women have recently been allowed into Azadi Stadium for internationals, but Open Stadiums wrote that “many believe the Azadi stadium has been opened for a short-term PR stunt to enhance the Iranian Football Association’s image before Fifa’s showcase World Cup”.
The eyes of the world will remain on Iran throughout the World Cup. It is vital that this scrutiny and pressure continues well beyond their exit from the competition.
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