QUEIROZ SNAPS AFTER IRAN STAR IS QUIZZED OVER PROTESTS

IRAN manager Carlos Queiroz last night confronted a BBC journalist who asked about the protests in the country and demanded to know why she did not ask Gareth Southgate about British policy in Afghanistan. Queiroz was incensed that BBC Persia reporter Shaimaa Khalil had asked striker Mehdi Taremi at their press conference ahead of this morning’s match against Wales about the ongoing unrest sparked by the death of a young woman in the country. Queiroz approached Khalil after the press conference and said: ‘I’m asking you one thing now: why don’t you ask questions to other coaches about other cultures? That’s only fair. ‘Why don’t you ask Southgate, “What do you think about England and the United States that left Afghanistan and all the women alone?”’

A scrum of journalists gathered as Khalil defended her right to ask these questions, before Queiroz (right) eventually left the room. The episode showed the protests are affecting the manager and the team, who refused to sing the national anthem before losing 6-2 to England on Monday, in an act of solidarity with the protesters.

Taremi, who came under criticism after celebrating a goal in a pre-tournament warm-up game against Uruguay, had twice said he would not say more on the protests, when Khalil asked him: ‘Your fans have been here cheering for you. Your fans are back home cheering for you. There are also people on the street. What’s your message for the protestors on the street back in Iran?’

He replied: ‘We are not under any pressure and the fact is we have come here to play football — not only us but all the players who are present here is Qatar. You do your work as a journalist. ‘We have all kinds of journalists here and I think in this space, when it’s a space for sport and football, sports journalists can be present here — so fans can enjoy the football. ‘What is in the sidelines doesn’t disturb this. I can’t change it. Thousands of people like me can’t change it.’

Queiroz had spoken impressively before he lost his cool. When a journalist suggested it was not fair that western journalists were being allowed to challenge the Iranian regime, he said: ‘It’s not a question of being fair or not. They have the right to ask the questions they think are the right questions.

‘We have the right to give the right answers. This is not a problem for us.’