Ghoddos calls for players to push for change in Iran
SAMAN GHODDOS believes footballers must use their World Cup platform to speak out about human rights injustices – starting with the plight facing anti-regime protesters in Iran.
Iran, who face England on Monday, have arrived in Qatar despite calls for FIFA to kick them out of the tournament because the country’s regime is supplying Russia with drones.
But Iran is also in the middle of an uprising that has claimed more than 300 lives and with the Government voting in favour of sentencing protestors to death. Iran’s players have previously been warned that professing support for the protestors could affect their selection chances.
Amid fears of repercussions, Brentford midfielder Ghoddos said: “Football is coming to the right side because people are losing their lives fighting for freedom. Clearly a change needs to come and it has already been going on for so long.We all want to change. If you think it’s the right thing to do, you should [speak out] because you’re a famous athlete.
“If you can put a light on what’s going on you should do it, with pressure or without pressure, because it’s the right thing to do.” Ghoddos understands why there were calls for Iran to be expelled but says it would have been unfair on Carlos Queiroz and the squad – and would not have led to change.
The Open Stadiums campaign group said last month that England should refuse to play Iran, having urged FIFA to ban Iran from the finals.
But it is the protests since Mahsa Amini’s death that have left the biggest impact. The 22-year-old was arrested for not wearing her hijab to the standards expected from the regime and died of a suspected brain bleed while in custody. “No one is happy about it,” added Ghoddos. “What the people want is nothing special
– it’s just freedom.”