After abstaining on Monday, the Iranian selection sang their country’s anthem on Friday before their surprise victory against Wales. Thursday, a historic player and committed since the death of Mahsa Amini was arrested by the regime.
Every detail is important. The Iranian players selected for the World Cup in Qatar this time sang their country’s anthem before the match against Wales, which they won 2-0 in stoppage time. notable change, while the Iranian holders had remained silent Monday, in the ceremony preceding the meeting against England. On the images, it is difficult to measure the spontaneity or the enthusiasm of the players.
The gestures of the Iranians during this competition are particularly scrutinized while a thousand kilometers away, a popular uprising is rocking the Islamic Republic. During the previous week, midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh explained that the players would decide “collectively” whether or not to sing the national anthem as a sign of support for the victims of the harshly repressed demonstrations in their country.
Sportingly this victory, the 3rd in 7 participations in the World Cup, allows the Iranians to hope, for the first time, to extricate themselves from a first round. Their qualification for the round of 16 will be played against the United States (hello symbol), during the last pool match, on November 29.
So why this reversal? Is the explanation to be found in the arrest this Thursday of a former international footballer? The latter has firmly supported the demonstrations rocking the Islamic Republic since September, accusing it of “propaganda” against the state, the Iranian news agency Fars reported. Voria Ghafouri, 35, 28 times selected for Iran until 2019, is one of the most prominent figures arrested in the crackdown on the protest movement that has erupted since the September 16 death of a young Kurd. Iranian, Mahsa Amini. accused of having “insulted and tarnished the reputation of the national team (Team Melli) and for having engaged in propaganda” against the state, the player, also a Kurd, was arrested after a training session for his team “Foolad” (steel, in Persian) from Khuzestan, on the decision of the judicial authority, according to Fars.
Arrested after a training session
Hengaw, a Norway-based non-governmental organization that defends the rights of Kurds, confirmed his arrest and posted a photo of him in traditional Kurdish clothes, also posted on Twitter by another former Iranian international, Ali Karimi. “For the Honorable Voria”commented Ali Karimi, who himself supports the protesters.
The Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) estimates that 416 people have been killed in the crackdown on the movement, while 15,000 have been arrested, according to the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran. NGOs have also expressed concern about the situation in the western Kurdish regions of the country, with human rights groups claiming that dozens of people have been killed there in the past week alone.
On Monday, the Portuguese coach of Iran Carlos Queiroz, explained that his players, swept 6-2 by England, were marked by the political situation in their country and asked that they be left “play soccer”.
Updated at 1:15 p.m. with the victory of the Iranians