Qatar 2022: Iran wins on the pitch, but loses with divisions off it

In Qatar 2022 and despite having chances to qualify for the next phase, Iran He has been scoring some own goals off the pitch. Samples of the government’s repression of the demonstrations for the death of Mahsa Amini have already been transferred to the sporting event. And all the cameras are pointing at them.

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In their first game, the Iranian teams refused to sing their National anthem and some fans supported the protest by messing up the song. Others, as “La Vanguardia” notes, held up flags where phrases such as “Freedom for women’s lives”. For the match this Friday the 25th against Wales, however, the players went back and sang the song.

It is not a simple situation. Juan Carlos Gomez PerladoWhoever it was “the Spanish physical trainer who was part of the coaching staff […] who qualified the Iranian national team”, he declared: “News arrives that there are two factions of players and that regime sympathizers are spying on the others”.

One of those who support the protests is sardar azmoun. After a friendly before Qatar 2022he shared his position: “I can’t keep quiet. If the punishment is being kicked out of the squad, that’s a small price to pay. They should be ashamed for murdering a person”.

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The protests do not stop

sympathizers of the government of Ebrahim Raisi and the ayatollah Ali Khamenei were present at the game this Friday between Iran Y Welsh. According to AP, they”they confiscated pre-revolutionary Persian flags from the fans who entered the stadium and insulted those who wore T-shirts with the slogan of the protests that have shaken the nation for more than two months, ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’”.

The agency adds: “Small groups of men chanted angrily ‘Islamic Republic of Iran‘ towards women who gave interviews about the situation in the country to foreign media outside the pitch”.

#BREAKING: Iran national team players choose not to sing national anthem at World Cup match; some of the Iranian crowed booing their own national anthem pic.twitter.com/6tYqjloYYi

— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) November 21, 2022

About, Enrique Banús, director of the Institute of European Studies of the University of Piurathinks: “I don’t think these demonstrations have any effect on the utterly rigid behavior of the Iranian government. His image was already tarnished. In any case, they have a strong symbolic value and reinforce, within the country, the protests”.

And so it seems to be: since the death of Mahsa Amini -on September 16 when he was in the custody of the morality police-, the protests do not subside. That answer is, says Banús, special. “According to analysts, these show a different picture. The previous times, the demonstrations were repressed and then they disappeared. Instead, this is not”.

“However, we could not say that they are going to erode the regime. It seems that, for the moment, there are no cracks, there are no clerics or ministers who have shown their disagreement. If that were to happen, it would mark a big change.”.

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Meanwhile, Iran does not mince words and continues with its heavy-handed policy. For example, him former captain of the national soccer team Voria Ghafouri He was arrested on Thursday the 24th for “insulting the national team and spreading anti-government propaganda”. According to “Olé”, the action can be read as a “caveat”so that those selected do not protest again -as when they refused to sing the anthem-.

What did Ghafouri say? The medium notes that he “referred to the ongoing protests in his country and criticized the national ban on women attending soccer matches”.

On the demonstrations in favor of the regime of Iran, Banús raises the possibility that they are not as spontaneous as they seem. “Paying for some to go and support them is something that some dictatorial governments tend to do”. But proving it will be another matter.

Source: Elcomercio

jack

I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.