image source, Getty Images
Iranian soldiers remained silent as the national anthem was played
Iran’s national football team remained silent by not singing their national anthem before the start of their World Cup match against England on Monday.
Their activism comes as a show of support for protesters fighting the death of Massa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish social activist in custody in the homeland.
All 11 players of the team remained silent as the national anthem of the competing country was played as per the official rules at the Khalifa International Stadium. Their faces were stiff and expressionless. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, protests have been going on there for more than two months to challenge the Iranian rulers.
One of its leaders, Masa Amini, a female social activist, died in custody on September 16.
She led those protests against the move to make it compulsory for women to wear the hijab.
Meanwhile, the Oslo-based Iranian Observatory for Human Rights has reported that around 400 people have died since the regime’s crackdown on protests following Massa Amini’s death.
This activity of the Iranian players is appreciated and welcomed by various celebrities who have accounts on social media.
What is the reason for the struggle?
image source, Reuters
The death of Massa Amini, a young woman who was arrested for violating strict Islamic dress codes, has sparked an uproar in Iran for more than two months.
Dozens of Iranian celebrities, athletes and artists have been showing their support for the anti-regime protesters.
Earlier, some Iranian athletes had decided not to sing along with the national anthem before playing in the World Cup.
However, the Iranian rulers had requested that the athletes should not mix politics in the games and should focus only on sports.
Iranian player and captain Jahanbakhsh, who played for English club Brighton, was questioned by a British journalist last week about the players’ decision.
Jahanbakshi then angrily replied, “Every player has a different celebration. You are asking about the national anthem. That is something to be decided in the team. We have already talked about it.” “But there is nothing much to achieve. To be honest, the team is only thinking about football,” Jahanbakshi said.
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