Iran's Soccer Players Refuse To Sing National Anthem Ahead Of World Cup Opening Match
BY CHRISTOPHER BRITO
NOVEMBER 21, 2022 / 12:04 PM / CBS NEWS

The Iranian soccer team's players chose not to sing their country's national anthem before their opening match against England on Monday at the World Cup in Qatar, in apparent solidarity with protesters back home. As Iran's national anthem played at Khalifa International Stadium, television cameras showed the starting players standing stoically, but not singing.

Iran lost the match to England, 6-2.

Prior to the game, team captain Alireza Jahanbakhsh said he and his teammates would decide "collectively" whether they would take a stand during the anthem in support of the anti-government protests.

In the team's friendly match against Nicaragua on November 11, most of the players declined to sing the anthem, AFP reported.


England v IR Iran: Group B - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022
Iran players line up for the national anthem prior to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group B match between England and IR Iran at Khalifa International Stadium.
JULIAN FINNEY / GETTY IMAGES

Before the gesture, the team had lost support from their fellow Iranians after meeting with Iran's hardline President Ebrahim Raisi, Holly Dagres, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and an Iranian-American national, told CBS News correspondent Roxana Saberi.

Dagres said that while the team remaining silent during the Islamic Republic's national anthem "may seem very significant, many Iranians were already disappointed in the team's behavior during the past week."

In addition to the meeting with Raisi, Dagres said photos showing the players celebrating their World Cup entry, as "protesters were being slain in the streets by security forces," left many Iranians to view their team "as not representative of them, but of the clerical establishment."

Masih Alinejad, a New York-based activist from Iran, went further in her condemnation of the team.

"Iran is the only country in the World Cup that its people want their national football team to lose since the team doesn't represent the people but the regime," she wrote.

At least 419 protesters have been killed since September, including 60 children, and more than 17,000 people have been arrested, according to the Iranian Human Rights Activists News Agency's latest statistics. The protests have rocked Iran since the killing in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on September 16.

Initially led by women, the protests have grown into the most significant anti-government demonstrations the regime has faced since it came to power in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

CBSNEWS

OLAADEGBU:


“Iran is the only country in the World Cup that its people want their national football team to lose”

Dalil8:
Virtue signalling.

They should not be allowed entry into Iran. Traitors!

Dalil8:


Virtue signalling.

They should not be allowed entry into Iran. Traitors!

coded01:


I noticed they didn't open their mouth throughout the time their national anthem was being played.

I think it's an indirect way of showing their disdain against their political leaders in Iran and solidarity for their people.

Stay strong oppressed Iranians and to everyone enslaved by their leaders all over the world - God's people will rise very soon.

"Freedom is Not Given, it is Taken" - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose

OLAADEGBU:


I would be surprised if they return to Iran without the World Cup.

Kobonaire234:


All I am going to say is this..

In the USA, which Iran hates, four policemen put a man by the name of George floyd in a position where he died. (Now, I am not here to retry the case, or determine who was evil...so don't disturb me). All the policemen were arrested, and jailed. Yes there were protests, but at the end, no one called for the US government to be removed from power.

Iran, a girl is arrested for breaking the law. (Note: I am not here to discuss whether Hijab is right or wrong. or do the usual discussion on Islam). The cops in essence beat her to death. Beating her to death was not part of their job...they should have arrested, processed her, got her to court and done the usual sentencing. Instead, one of the cops decided to play tough guy, and hit her badly.

What the Iranian government should have done is simple. Investigate, arrest the cops involved, sack some people , make the people directly involved undergo some punishment, and who knows, they would have been hailed today. Yes, some protests, but not to the extent where they are calling for the government to be removed.

But no, they instead tried to cover it up. As a result...a lot of angry people, and mass protests. Yes they will fizzle out. But that;s another reservioir of anger for tomorrow.

The problem with Iran is not their religon, or the fact that they have restrictive laws on women. It is the fact that at the end, when injustice is done by the people supposed to enforce it, there is a cover up, and no one gets punished. As a result people get angry.

In the USA...for many years , people were subjected to police brutality..especially blacks. When the anger exploded in the 1964-68 period...where whole parts of cities burned and burned...that's when the government sat up and started implementing changes. Of course it did not change overnight...but today, be a Arrow as a law enforcement officer...and you get punished.


The Iranian government could have avoided this by putting the guy who hit Masha on trial, and either suspending or sacking him from work . Instead they tried the coverup game. The more they do not sort out things like this, the more they set unnecessary problems for themselves.

OLAADEGBU:


Why would you think a tyrannical Govt. would be interested in doing justice?

Dalil8:
Virtue signalling.

They should not be allowed entry into Iran. Traitors!

coded01:
I noticed they didn't open their mouth throughout the time their national anthem was being played.

I think it's an indirect way of showing their disdain against their political leaders in Iran and solidarity for their people.

Stay strong oppressed Iranians and to everyone enslaved by their leaders all over the world - God's people will rise very soon.

"Freedom is Not Given, it is Taken" - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose

OLAADEGBU:


As Iran's anthem played on, television cameras showed the country's players tight lipped.