Iran offer powerful show of defiance on day of jeers, tears and joy
You cannot confiscate a voice. Iran’s was heard powerfully on an emotional afternoon on the outskirts of Doha that ended with tears in the stands, tears on the pitch and Wales supporters applauding those responsible for likely ending a World Cup journey 64 years in the making.
There were tears at the start too, and it was initially impossible to concentrate on a must-win game for both teams after seeing Iranian women and men left distraught by their national anthem. Before Monday’s game against England the Iran players had stayed silent during the anthem, delivering a potent protest with potentially far greater consequences than a possible yellow card for an armband. Here some stayed silent again, a few sang and the majority mumbled their way through; a choir of the damned if they do, damned if they don’t.
Around them, however, the sound was unmistakable and intensely moving. Boos and whistles rained down from Iran supporters sending their message to the government of the Islamic republic.
One fan held aloft an Iran football shirt with ‘Mahsa Amini – 22’ on the back, the name and age of the woman whose death in police custody sparked the mass protest movement in the country. The fan had blood-stained tears drawn on to her face and was soon confronted by stadium security, who confiscated the shirt.
Qatar’s orders, or Fifa’s? Every flag brought to the perimeter of the stadium was inspected by security before being allowed inside. Any that carried messages of support for the protest movement were confiscated. An American-Iranian fan claimed her flag had been taken for having the word “women” on it.
There were sinister scenes outside the stadium where women giving interviews to foreign media about the protests were harassed by a small group of male pro-government fans. Some filmed the women on their phones and chanted “The Islamic Republic of Iran”. They also shouted insults at anyone displaying the protest slogan “Women, Life, Freedom”.
What was going through the mind of Iran’s players as they lined up to perform on a World Cup stage to the sound of boos and whistles, not only seeking to redress the 6-2 humiliation against England as part of their day job but suddenly expected to form a sporting protest movement, complete with answers, to a repressive regime prepared to shoot its people?
They have been threatened with dire retribution for Monday’s silence by politicians back home. On the eve of the Wales game they heard one of the most famous footballers in Iran, Voria Ghafouri, had been arrested by secu